


Fidelis

by Munchkin47



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:53:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 78,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25757674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Munchkin47/pseuds/Munchkin47
Summary: Cloud Strife is an indentured prostitute serving his second year at the Butterfly House, a famous omega-only establishment in the heart of Sector Four. He keeps his head down, wanting only to survive while working off his debt. But it all changes one evening when the silver-haired consigliere of the city's most powerful syndicate walks into the establishment and sets off a chain of events that turn their lives upside down.
Relationships: Angeal Hewley/Genesis Rhapsodos, Rufus Shinra/Tseng, Sephiroth/Cloud Strife, Zack Fair/Aerith Gainsborough
Comments: 633
Kudos: 861





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The following will tell you all you need to know about this fic before you proceed: 
> 
> 1\. Tropes: A/B/O dynamics + Prostitution + Mafia  
> 2\. This story is a monster on steroids.  
> 3\. This story has characters who do many morally questionable things. 
> 
> If this is not your jam, please hit the back button and know you go with my blessings. 
> 
> If this is your jam, then stick around ...?

Cloud Strife looked down at the coffee table, and up again. Anywhere but the man who sat opposite him in the armchair.

He knew that this man was dangerous. The way he held himself, the way he spoke. He was all coiled elegance in a package of unearthly beauty. Confidence and assuredness brimmed from every pore of his, and Cloud had seen enough of men like that to know what they liked.

Twisted and sadistic, they often liked to inflict a great amount of pain and pleasure in equal amounts.

But Cloud was here to do a job. Whether he liked it or not.

It was best to fall back on what he knew best, and the sooner he got started, the sooner it would be over.

‘How would you like to do it?’ he asked, and his tone came out a little brusquer than he was expecting. He was probably overcompensating for the anxiety churning inside of him.

‘Do what?’ the man asked, in a calm and measured tone.

‘Have sex,’ Cloud said. ‘Fuck. Screw. Whatever you want to call it. Here or a bedroom? Couch or the bed? I won’t do kinks unless we discuss it beforehand, and condoms and lubes are non-negotiable. I have a stash in my bag if you don’t have any.’

The man sat down on the couch, gestured for Cloud to join him.

Cloud obeyed instantly, putting his bag down at the foot of the couch. The cushions were firm and luxurious, and he sank down into them. He waited.

The man pulled out a small, silver case from the inside of his jacket, and he popped it open to reveal long, slim tubes of black cigarettes. Cloud knew these, and had seen them once or twice. Herbal cigarettes laced with a miniscule dose of mako. Not enough to cause a reaction, but enough to relax the muscles. These were the most expensive cigarettes on the market.

He held one between the index finger and middle finger of his left hand, and flicked a silver cigarette lighter. Then he inhaled gently, and quietly puffed out a stream of pale green smoke. Mako in its purest form stank of acridity, but these were filtered enough to smell a little pleasantly like freshly cut grass.

‘I don’t want to have sex with you,’ the man said, slowly, but clearly.

So what, he was here for shits and giggles? ‘You … don’t want to fuck?’

‘No.’

‘Then I’m not sure why you’ve brought me here. Last I checked, this is my profession. I fuck for a living.’

‘No,’ the man said again, setting off the alarm bells in Cloud’s head. If the client didn’t want sex, then what did he want?

Was he into the bad kind of shit? The brutal stuff that would leave him maimed or killed? Mutilated and useless?

Either way, Cloud was almost resigned to whatever that was coming.

It wasn’t as if he wanted to die. But it was a relief not to have someone waiting at home for him. There was no family, and no friends, even. His mother had died years ago and she had been the only family he had. His colleagues were acquaintances on the best of days, as he regularly kept to himself. No one would look for him if he was lost, and no one who would mourn his death.

He couldn’t lie – some days he wished that it would all end. His debt, his obligations, his life.

Perhaps this was why the man had picked him out of all the beautiful whores they had at the Butterfly House. If he died, no one would care.

The usual process at the Butterfly House when there was a VIP involved was very simple. They got dressed in their best fineries, and then marched into the room unimaginatively called the Display Room. There, in the overly perfumed salon dripping with ridiculous opulence and luxurious furniture, they were all supposed to find a seat and put themselves on display, waiting for the client of the night to pick them.

It was a pointless, stupid competition that no one really wanted to win. However winning was still better than losing, because winning meant that the chosen whore for the night would be whisked away for a night of pleasuring the single client who had the potential to shower them with generous tips that would help pay off their debt. For the losers, no such luck. They would go through dozens of clients before the sun rose, and then quietly, hopelessly counted off yet another day of being indentured to this brothel.

Cloud remembered the endless mornings where he sat up on the overly firm, uncomfortable brothel bed, every part of his body aching, sore, used and besmirched in the name of providing pleasure. He had been picked once only before by a VIP client, and he had deeply regretted it by the time the sun rose above the horizon. He had been beaten, tied-up, fucked until he could no longer say his own name.

And after that, he never hoped to be picked by a VIP client again. He would much rather have a stream of nameless, faceless alphas and betas fucking him like he was an object. It was a little easier, more predictable that way.

His existence as an omega in this omega-only brothel was a contradiction in itself.

The brothel was run by a madam who held tight reins over the administration of the business. As an indentured worker there to pay off his debt, he was given room and board. Even though it was a tiny room with nothing more than a bed and a bathroom and a tiny kitchenette, he had been well-taken care of. Everything was clean and well-maintained. The food was nutritious, if bland, and he was provided with whatever amenities and clothing he needed.

There were always a steady supply of inhibitors prescribed for his use in order to suppress his heats, and contraception was compulsory and well-regulated. He may have no love for what he had to do, but at least he knew he was doing it in a safe environment where his physical well-being was taken care of.

But when he had to do his job, however, it was an entirely different story. He may have been treated like a living, breathing human while not working, but the reality was there was a certain kind of clientele that came for omega whores. Many of them who had a perverted fascination over the existence that was this rare secondary gender. They were considered weaker, feebler, a relic of the past now that the world’s population had begun to stabilize.

No longer needed, and only valued in certain places, omegas were a dying breed.

He hadn’t many options when he had incurred his debt – whoring turned out to be the only choice. Even though he hated doing it, there was a part of him that had already made peace with this fact.

Which brought him to this night. He had been perched casually on a piano stool in the Display Room at the Butterfly House when he and his fellow workers had been told to assemble. He didn’t have enough seniority, nor the popularity to claim center stage in the room.

That was reserved for the lush couches artfully arranged on the gaudy carpet. There was a grand piano on the far, back corner of the room. A couple were cunning enough to drape themselves seductively against the piano, but Cloud always picked this spot.

The stool was simple enough, partially hidden. No one who wanted to be picked would sit in this spot. But it was perfect for him. He took a seat, crossed his ankles, and tried not to fidget. While they waited, he listened idly to the conversation.

‘Who is it this time?’ Someone asked.

‘Shhh! Not so loud,’ another whore said. ‘It’s a big one this time. It’s Shinra’s consigliere.’

‘Holy shit. Are you sure?’

‘Yes, I saw him in the foyer earlier.’

‘The Silver Demon? He doesn’t sleep with whores. He has more than enough men and women throwing themselves at him.’

‘Shit, I’ve heard about him. He’s a vicious lover. My cousin said she slept with him once, and he nearly split her in half.’

‘Well, what’s he doing here if he doesn’t sleep with whores?’

‘Don’t know.’ A shrug. ‘Maybe he’s trying to make a snuff film.’ Unkind laughter, threaded with a real trepidation and nervousness.

‘I hope he doesn’t pick me,’ came from one of the newly-joined omegas, so wet behind the ears that he was still considered in training.

Cloud shrunk further into himself. No good would come of servicing the consigliere of the Shinra syndicate. He better keep his head down.

‘Places, omegas!’ the madam called sweetly, and all of them in the Display Room froze in a pose of their choice, baring their beautiful bodies dressed up in various finery. Flirtatious smiles and dead-on stares, seductiveness oozing out of every pore.

Cloud stared at a spot at the wall, a faint, practiced smile on his face. Indifference. Distance. Devoid of any sexiness despite his bared arms and legs.

He didn’t even turn his head when he heard the man walking into the room. The clack of expensive leather shoes on marble tiles, a blur of black and white as the man walked in. Cloud didn’t want to see, didn’t want to care. Definitely did not want to make eye contact.

He just wanted this to be done so he could begin conducting business for the night. And the sooner he did, the sooner he would be done and he would be one day closer to that precious sweetness of freedom.

Then the man stopped directly in front of him, and Cloud was forced to look up.

Shit, he thought. Fuck. 

He noticed the suit first. Black and white pinstripes, a pocket handkerchief of deep satin green. That tie perfectly knotted in a windsor pattern. That suit was clearly tailored as it molded itself to the man’s muscular frame.

Then the face. Sharp and aristocratic and aquiline, almost, with the coldest green eyes he had ever seen in his life. Dispassionate, indifferent, yet brimming with a certain unfathomable emotion.

And then the most overwhelmingly thing of all – the man’s scent. Powerful, masculine. The surface odor of expensive cologne, spicy and musky and vibrant was unable to mask that under-layer of pure masculinity and power. It was fiercely, and undeniably alpha.

Cloud’s heart began throbbing in response to fear. He had no choice but to look up.

The man was looking down, straight at him. His gaze was green, cold and unflinching. Cool fingers brushed against his chin, forcing him to tilt his face upwards even further.

‘Your name?’ That voice, buttery and smooth, deep and seductive, jolted him back to his senses.

‘My name is Cloud,’ he breathed quietly.

The man looked at him for a little while longer. Cloud held his breath.

‘Him,’ the man finally said.

Goddamnit, Cloud thought. 

The madam came up to them. ‘Very good choice, sir.’

‘How much?’ the man asked.

The madam flipped open her fan and hid her mouth behind it. ‘We can discuss the details of his price, sir. Would you be wanting him for the night, or more?’

‘No.’

‘No, sir?’ the madam asked, a little confused.

‘How much did he cost your brothel?’ the man asked, his gaze never once leaving Cloud’s.

Cloud blinked in confusion.

But he did what he was told. He wasn’t privy to their ensuing conversation, and was instead instructed to pack up all his belongings into a bag while they worked out the details. He would be servicing the client in a location of his choosing, and all Cloud had to do was get ready. He was then ushered into a chauffeured luxury car with black-out windows and asked to wait. When the man finally joined him inside the car, they did not exchange a single word.

Cloud did not dare to ask. And certainly he did not dare to hope. Hope was for fools. And he had been a fool once, stupid enough to have lost his freedom in order to pay back the debt he had incurred.

He looked out the tinted windows and watched the car travel down the lit-up streets of Midgar’s Sector 4 and into Sector 1 to a luxury apartment that stretched into the sky. It was not nearly as tall as Shinra Tower, but it was equally beautiful, if not more so.

The man got out of the car, and Cloud followed him into an apartment. He was so nervous that he barely paid attention to his surroundings. The last session with a VIP hadn’t ended well, and he was nervous about what this man would ask him to do.

Or what he would do to Cloud.

But he was only asked to sit on a couch in the living room. ‘Would you like something to drink?’ the man asked.

That startled Cloud. He had been in the business long enough to hear every request under the sun. But no one, no one had ever asked him if he wanted refreshments.

There was something very wrong here.

He braced himself. ‘If you don’t want to fuck me, then what do you want with me?’

He watched as the man inhaled carefully from his cigarette, and exhaled slowly. Then he opened up plain folder and pulled out some papers.

‘Do you recognize this?’

He tossed down a thick sheaf of documents. Cloud had seen them once, and only once before. The day he had been forced to sign. His gaze slid over those words that he never really understood then, but had a carnal understanding of now. Those words that stated that he would work at the Butterfly House in exchange for his debt to the Shinra Corporation to be cleared.

With trembling fingers he flipped to the last page, where in that deep blue ink, he had signed his own name, and subsequently relinquished his freedom.

There, in his childish, terrified handwriting, was his full name.

‘This is my contract,’ Cloud whispered. He had been told that he would see it again when he finally repaid his debt. It would take the whole of ten years. He had told himself that it wasn’t going to be his whole life. That was then, when he had still been optimistic enough. Perhaps foolishly so.

But two years had been enough to destroy what was left of his pathetic delusions. These days he felt like life had beaten him down into the dirt, and that he was nothing. His body moved automatically, his gaze glazed over with cynicism.

Only eight more years, he thought to himself, and neatly dropped the pages so he could no longer see the last sheet. He did not need to be reminded that he had sold himself, and it had been single-handedly the most foolish decision of his life.

Back then, he hadn’t known that this would destroy his worth as an omega, as a man, and as a human being. He knew that now, but it was far too late.

He folded his hands and rested them on his knees. ‘What about it?’

The man picked up the document. Those long, elegant fingers, wiry with strength generated from those graceful wrists got hold of either side of the bundle. Then with a quick twist and the flash of his watch in the darkened room, he tore the document in half, cleanly and decisively down the middle.

‘I’ve paid off your debt. You’re a free man, Cloud.’

Cloud did not understand. He felt like he was stuck in a never-ending loop of confusion and bafflement. He did not understand the words that came out of the man’s mouth. He only heard a strange roaring in his ears that wouldn't quiet down no matter how many deep breaths he took.

In the end he managed to choke out a single word. ‘Why?’

The man looked down at him, his aristocratic profile glacial and cold in the poorly lit shadows of the room. ‘I am simply repaying the favor. Once upon a time, you saved me.’ 


	2. Chapter 2

The next words that came out of Cloud’s mouth was like a torrent of incoherent stammering, and to his ears, sounded remarkably like a child’s blabbering. ‘What—why—what—I don’t understand—what do you mean by, you bought out my—’ Cloud stopped himself. Took a deep breath. ‘I simply don’t understand what you’re saying. You’re going to have to explain it to me a little bit more, please.’

The man gestured to the torn papers tossed carelessly on the coffee table. ‘That is your contract to the Butterfly House. I understand that you were forced to sign a contract binding you to them for ten years as a way of paying off your debt. You have worked for them for two years, and you have about eight years left. Is that right?’

‘Yes.’

‘I paid off your loan, and you are now free from any debt. You do not owe anyone anything.’

Cloud considered this carefully. ‘But now I owe you.’

The next thing that came out of the man’s mouth shocked Cloud. ‘No, you don’t. I did not buy out your contract to bind you to me.’

‘But you brought me here,’ Cloud said. There was no way. People didn’t come up to you, buy you from a fucking brothel and then said they wanted nothing.

No fucking way. He might be naïve, but he wasn’t stupid.

‘Yes. I did not want to discuss this at the brothel,’ the man said. ‘I don’t enjoy brothels.’

And yet you stepped into one, Cloud thought to himself. He did not believe this man for a single moment. Suave, confident, very wealthy and powerful – it was unfathomable that this man was purely a philanthropist. There was more to this story, and Cloud felt the overwhelming urge to find out exactly what.

‘What do you want with me, then?’ Cloud asked, asking the first question that popped into his mind. Then the second, and the third. ‘And what did you mean by repaying the favor? _I_ saved you? I’ve never met you in my life. Are you sure you haven’t gotten the wrong person?’

And at that moment, his heart seized. Maybe that was it. This man had saved the wrong whore. Once he discovered his mistake, he would have to go back to the Butterfly House, and this would all be for nothing. Like a fleeting dream. He scolded himself. That’s why hope was for fools.

Oh gods he would have to go back.

‘You are Cloud Strife, from Nibelheim?’ the man asked calmly. ‘Unless there was another Cloud Strife from Nibelheim with blond spikes, I think I have the right person.’

Something weird fluttered in his stomach.

‘Did I know you from Nibelheim?’ Cloud asked. ‘Is … did you know my mother? Was it her who helped you?’

‘No. I did not know your mother. You were the one who saved me.’

‘When?’ Cloud asked, completely baffled. He had the right man, and yet … the wrong history? Cloud wasn’t particularly great with names or faces, but even he wouldn’t have forgotten someone who looked like this. Preternaturally beautiful, influence and strength brimming from every pore as easily as the alpha pheromones. ‘I’ve never met you before in my entire life.’ And if he had, he would definitely recognize him.

‘I didn’t expect you to remember,’ the man said. ‘It’s been a long time.’

‘How long, exactly?’

The man was evasive. ‘Long enough. You were a child, as … was I.’

He was frustratingly vague, but Cloud accepted that the man was not ready or not willing to tell him. That was all right. He had bigger fish to fry. ‘Then what do you want with me? You brought me here for a reason.’

The man eyed him carefully, as if assessing. ‘You’re rather cynical.’

Meaning _what_?

‘Being an omega whore will do that to you,’ Cloud said evenly. ‘Please answer the question.’

‘I don’t want anything from you,’ the man insisted. ‘I thought it might be kinder to have this discussion in a private setting where we could both be more comfortable. I understand your confusion.’

‘If you did, you would be actively trying to put me out of misery right now by telling me what you want,’ Cloud felt his thigh muscles twitch, as if they were ready to get up and run out of this swanky apartment.

‘First, allow me to give you this option of leaving freely. You seem extremely agitated. I am not holding you here against your will. If you wish to, you can leave any time.’

Cloud mulled over it. He wanted to fucking leave, no doubt about it. But he also wanted to know what the fuck was going on.

‘I’m listening.’

‘All right,’ the man said. He put out his cigarette into the crystal ashtray, and Cloud watched the coils of green smoke rise and undulate in the air. The man took something out from his jacket, and Cloud braced himself.

But it wasn’t a gun. He took out his wallet.

Cloud felt cold sweat dripping down his spine.

No gun, but it didn’t mean he was out of the woods. What did this motherfucker want with him?

Those long, elegant fingers flipped open the leather wallet, pulled out a credit card. The man placed it on the coffee table, facing Cloud. ‘The credit limit on this card is 10,000 Gil each day. You have been cleared to use it however way you see fit. Clothes, toiletries, necessities, whatever you might need for a couple of weeks while you get your bearings.’

The man rose to his feet, and said he would be back in a moment.

Cloud stared at the card on the coffee table.

He gingerly pushed the card along until the edge and he scooped it up between his thumb and forefinger. He looked at it. It was issued by the Central Midgar Bank, and had a single name engraved upon the card. And on the back, an elegant scrawl of his signature.

He came back with a notepad and an elegant pen. He wrote down a phone number, and an address, and four numbers underneath it. ‘This is my personal mobile,’ the man pointed out. ‘This is the address of this residence so when you venture out you can find your way back. And this is the PIN code for the electronic lock on the front door.’

‘Right …’ Cloud stared at the paper.

‘Once you feel settled and comfortable, I want you to look into using those funds at your disposal to start over. I am aware that I have ripped you out of the life as you’ve known it, and you currently have nowhere to go and not much to your name. I am looking into your options for more funds, but for now this card should suffice.’

‘Funds … for what?’

‘For rebuilding your life from the ground up.’

Cloud couldn’t even begin to fathom what was going on. ‘So let me get this right. You’re giving me free rein over your money, to buy whatever that I want. And I’m free to come and go. And I’m assuming you want me to stay here?’

‘Yes,’ the man said.

‘For how long?’

‘For however long you wish to stay here,’ the man said.

‘So you’re feeding me, clothing me, and providing a roof over my head. You’re giving me enough money to restart my life. What do you—’

‘—want in exchange?’ the man said. ‘I believe I just told you. Nothing.’

Cloud found it immensely frustrating that he didn’t understand the situation as well as he should, and he was angry that this stranger, in addition to settling his astronomical debts, was now paying for his living costs to live like a person whose freedom and livelihood wasn’t tied to his job.

He was furious that this man was offering everything up to him that he had ever fantasized about in those early, watery mornings in his room, his body throbbing with pain and soreness and he was weak enough to let the tears come and for his mind to wander, even for the briefest moment, to consider a life other than this one.

He was incandescent that this man wanted nothing in return.

‘You’re lying,’ Cloud accused.

‘Why is it so hard for you to believe me?’ the man asked.

Because he was a liar, and Cloud was going to prove it. He got to his feet, walked around the coffee table and approached the man carefully, slowly. The man watched him, that verdant gaze unblinking, apathetic despite the monumental kindness that he was apparently doing for a simple whore.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in this world.

The man sat so still he might as well be a statue. Cloud tentatively lowered himself, seating on the man’s lap, and pulled himself closer. Gods, he smelled so good. Cut grass and cologne and pheromones – that was a heady perfume for the senses, especially an unmarked, untethered omega like himself.

Out of habit, he reached up to his own neck to make sure that the leather choker that he wore was still in place. It was expensive, double-layered leather, smooth and luxurious on his skin. On the back was a tiny lock, to which only he had the key to. Even the brothel madam had nothing to do with it. It kept him safe from rutting alpha clients, who could fuck him as much as they liked but never be able to engrave their bite mark upon his skin.

When Cloud was this close to the man, he could see those green eyes boring into him. It was unnerving the way he barely blinked, and the man’s hands did not even move to claim him, not even twitch despite the way frank desire flared in those jade-green eyes.

So Cloud pressed the entire length of his body against the man’s pristine jacket, and rolled his hips forward experimentally. The man still stared, his body as immovable as rock. Cloud bent his head closer, but so gradually that he was giving the man the space to move his head away, if he wished.

But he did not, so their lips met.

The first touch of their lips was cool and brief as they brushed together. Cloud pulled back, and meeting no resistance, pressed again more insistently this time. He allowed his own tongue to snake into the man’s mouth, daring him to fight back, daring him to resist.

But the man did not. He cooperated, and here Cloud felt like he was on steady ground. He knew men, and he certainly knew the nature of alphas. Cloud broke contact, then slithered down to his knees onto the carpet, his hands stretching forward to unbuckle the man’s belt.

Those elegant hands came up, clamped down on his wrists. ‘No,’ the man said.

Cloud frowned. ‘Why?’

‘Because you don’t have to do this out of the insane idea that you have repay me,’ Sephiroth said. ‘You may have been selling your body two hours ago, but you no longer have to do that.’

Cloud stared up at him. ‘You really don’t want anything from me,’ he breathed.

Sephiroth looked down at him, and that steady gaze never faltered. He lifted one hand away from Cloud’s wrist, and smoothed back an errant strand of hair that had fallen onto Cloud’s forehead. His other hand snuck under Cloud’s chin, chucked it upwards. Gently, but firmly enough that Cloud had no choice but to look at him.

‘This is the last time I will say it,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I did not bring you here, or buy your freedom for any particular reason other than this is my way of repaying the favor you did for me a long time ago. What I have done and am choosing to do from this point on is of my own volition and I expect absolutely nothing in return.’

‘I … don’t understand,’ Cloud said, deflated.

‘You don’t have to understand it,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Simply allow me to help you.’ 

‘What if I took all of your money and … ran away?’

Sephiroth shrugged elegantly, simply with a lift of his shoulder. ‘I’m not going to chase you down and demand you return the money, if that’s what you’re worried about.’

‘What if … I stayed in your apartment forever?’

‘If that’s what you wish,’ Sephiroth said.

There was really no other way to say it. Cloud was deeply shell-shocked, and stunned enough to fall onto ass, his hands now glued to the man’s pinstriped pants instead of his belt. He didn’t know if he truly believed the man, but for now he had exhausted all his questions, and the only thing that kept him rooted to the spot instead of bolting out of the apartment was that little tingle of something called hope.

Perhaps he was a fool after all.


	3. Chapter 3

He sat quietly at the breakfast bar, staring at the spread of food in front of him. Under an impossibly large cloche, there were scrambled eggs, fried tomatoes and mushrooms, bacon and ham. Beans, toast and spinach, salmon and a yoghurt and granola parfait of some kind.

He wasn’t proud of it, but he sat there, perched on the bar stool, staring at the damned breakfast plate for more than ten minutes, debating whether to eat it or not, wondering if it was poisoned.

Last night, after he had that conversation with the silver-haired man, he had retreated to the couch and sat there, trying to process his own thoughts, still wondering if it was safe for him to be here, and if there was any danger to his body or his life. Turned out that the only thing that was really in danger was his brain, which was close to exploding.

Sephiroth seemed to understand his concerns. So he got up to leave, after offering Cloud a chance to ask any more questions that he might have. ‘Isn’t this your home?’ Cloud asked, startled.

‘This is my apartment,’ Sephiroth clarified. ‘This place is closer to Shinra Tower than my actual home, and on nights where I can’t make it back I simply spend a night here. I’ve instructed my staff to provide you with some toiletries and things that you might need tonight. They’re in that guest room over there. If you have any concerns you know how to reach me. Otherwise, I will leave you for the night.’

Cloud bit his lip. ‘Is there … anything you don’t want me to touch?’

Sephiroth looked at him curiously. ‘No.’

‘Um … when will you come back?’

‘I can check in on you tomorrow evening,’ Sephiroth said. ‘You are free to go wherever or do whatever you want. Make yourself comfortable, and good night.’

Cloud couldn’t lie. He felt an immense sense of relief the moment the heavy wooden door closed behind the man as he exited. He stared at the door for ten seconds, then strode up to it. Experimentally, he pulled open the door, and watched as it opened easily from the inside. Stuck his head out for a while, looked down and up the empty corridor.

All right, so it did look like he was free to come and go.

He closed the door behind him, engaged the dead bolt. Just in case.

He might not be a whore as of two hours ago, but a whore’s instincts stayed with him.

Now that he felt a little safer, he looked around what was possibly the most beautiful apartment he had ever seen in his life. No, scratch that. This was single-handedly the most beautiful thing he had seen in his entire life.

By now the short hand of the clock was inching towards ten in the evening, which was generally when business became brisker. But now he stood in this unfamiliar apartment, with nothing to do in particular but to explore his surroundings.

He looked down at his feet first, where his scuffed sneakers looked oddly out of place against the chevron-pattered dark wood. The sneakers were old, and he had them since more than a year ago. Cheap ones, but they worked. So what if there was a small hole on the side, and the soles were completely worn thin.

Everything that belonged to him – that he brought with him and he wore on him all seemed so out of place, but he refused to be ashamed of them. When he worked at the Butterfly House, he was always in beautiful finery made of high quality fabrics. They were afforded the highest medical care, and their welfare was taken care of. While with clients, they were meant to entertain them in well-appointed, gorgeously furnished rooms. Yet the moment the jobs were over, they retreated into spartan little boxes and lived with the things they could scrounge together on the meagre stipend they were paid monthly.

He knew better than anyone the need to maintain that illusion with clients at the Butterfly House. They paid a premium to fuck beautiful, well-maintained omegas. They didn’t need, and didn’t want to know what was behind that mask, what happened behind the scenes when the illusion they wove ended.

But this place – this luxury was real, and as authentic as they came. It wasn’t all for appearance, it wasn’t for pretend. It was quietly stylish, and the most gorgeous living space he had ever seen. He never in his life thought he was live to see something like this.

He ran a hand gingerly over the beige leather couches – they were soft to the touch, like butter. The cushions were plump and generous, and it was easily larger than the single bed back in his little room at the brothel. There was something geometric and blocky about the décor in the apartment – from the boxy-looking chandeliers bathing the entire space in amber to the vases and wall hangings littered sparsely around.

The high ceilings were massive and the tall windows showcased a grand view of the nightscape, all lit up in its sleepless glory. There was a tiny window seat that fit him quite perfectly, and he was content to sit there for a while, contemplating his next steps.

His work as a prostitute meant that day and night were flipped – night was for work, and day was for sleep.

But that wasn’t his life anymore, right?

He got up to pace restlessly down the hallway to see what else he could find.

Nothing looked out of place in this spacious apartment, which looked more like a show home anything. There was not a speck of dust to be found anywhere, so the man must have a very good cleaning service. He wondered how often the man stayed over here, with no hint of him ever being here except the faintness of his perfume still left in the air.

He didn’t enter any of the closed bedroom doors, because he was polite and he was too scared to find out what was really in there. One of them must be the man’s bedroom, and it felt like forbidden territory. After all, what did his fellow prostitutes say he was? Shinra’s consigliere? He was a criminal, and a gangster, no matter how suave he was, no matter how civilized his appearance. Cloud did not want to give the man a reason to pull a gun on him.

Not now, especially since he no longer had a debt to his name.

He was thankful, of course. And felt enough of the gratitude to honor the man’s privacy. So he retreated into the guest bedroom where he considered it safer territory. There was a snowy white towel on the bed, thick and soft. Then a modest stack of clothes, tags still on. Some shirts, pants, some pajamas. An unopened toothbrush, razor, toothpaste, mouthwash.

He had them in his bag anyway, but it still felt nice to have these new things. Like he was in some kind of expensive hotel, like he was a guest about to spend the night. Like he was special, or something.

Simply because he had nothing else to do, he took a shower to wash off the noxious artificial perfumes that clung to his skin. It was very common place at the brothel, because some clients found the smell of omega pheromones intensely annoying. Not only did they have to fight their own instincts, it could be unpleasantly enticing as well.

He marveled at everything, from the large shower to the marble tiles that sluiced the water away, to the brushed chrome auto-dispensers that spat generous amounts of classy smelling shampoo and liquid soap into his hands, to the newfangled showerhead that looked like it could calculate complex mathematical equations.

By the time he dried off and dressed in a pair of silk pajamas, he was feeling sufficiently relaxed. He lay down on the bed for a while, checking his phone out of habit. But there was nothing for him – there never was. He didn’t spend a lot of time socializing with his fellow prostitutes at the brothel. He was just there to do a job, not to make friends. He hid himself away in the room, did his job, and that was that. He had no one who loved him and cared for him anymore.

And that was all right with him.

In a warped way, he wasn’t afraid of what the consigliere might do to him in a worst-case scenario. What he was afraid of was the unknown.

What did the man ultimately want from him?

He closed his eyes, and pressed the phone to his chest.

Cloud had only meant to rest his eyes a little bit, but the pillow had been so soft under his head, and the bed so warm and inviting that he pretty much conked out, despite the fact that his body was used to working at night and his circadian rhythm was shot to hell. And yet, he slept.

The first time he had awoken it was in the middle of the night. He felt a sudden jolt of fear at his unfamiliar surroundings. Panic and anxiety overwhelmed his thoughts as he scrambled to find out where he was and what was happening. But he was only met with silence. There was no one next to him. There was no one inside of him.

He was safe.

And yet he got up and dragged the dressing table chair over to pop it underneath the knob of his door. Despite knowing that the man was not going to harm him, he didn’t want any sort of intrusion when he least expected it, when his defenses were down.

Then he shut the lights, and crawled underneath the thick duvets and had the best night’s sleep in two years.

*

He woke up so refreshed in the morning it was positively indecent. He took his time brushing his teeth and washing his face, but didn’t bother changing his clothes. He had nothing to do, nowhere to be. The day stretched ahead of him.

He stood at the door, listening quietly for any movement outside, anything at all. Nothing. The walls were either soundproofed, or there was no one outside. So he removed the chair and put it back into place, and then peeked into the empty hallway.

Still nothing.

God, was it was it was like to wake up to see this view? He stood near the hallway windows for a little while, watched the sunlight stream into the apartment. Natural light flooded everywhere, and it was clear to see that the apartment was more glorious than it had been in the night. This damned place looked like a work of art.

Then he eventually found the cloche of breakfast on the counter, and sat down in front of it. There was a note there that was addressed to him. He was under no illusion of course, that the man himself had penned this note, after all it wasn’t the same handwriting as yesterday. It seemed like he had a housekeeper who had come by and made this breakfast.

Cloud sat, and ate.

He didn’t mean to eat the entire thing. Not at first, anyway.

But the food was much too delicious for him not to stretch his stomach. At the brothel, food and board was provided – but in limited amounts. Their clientele didn’t want a rotund, chubby omega whore. They preferred their prostitutes on the fit and slender side, and yet hardy and tough, able to take whatever abuse the clients wanted to dish out. So while the food was nutritionally balanced, it was never in large amounts, and never that delicious anyway.

This was different. This was a feast, one that he hadn’t had since he had left the safety of his home in Nibelheim, and his mother’s generous homemade meals. 

He washed up the plate when he was done, and then wondered what to do next.

The credit card that Sephiroth had provided him with was still there on the coffee table, as was the note with the address. He tossed both into his duffel bag, and changed into some street clothes.

Then he went for a walk into the heart of the shopping district. He didn’t particularly know what he wanted to buy. There was nothing he needed anyway. But it felt like a challenge to himself – and he wanted to see if that damned credit card would work.

The world still looked the same to him. He swung by the nicest department store in that sector. He didn’t know it well. The one time he walked in he was appalled by all the prices, and he knew he would not be able to afford any of this, not in this life anyway.

As he walked in, he saw the security guard side-eye him, but Cloud jutted his chin, and he walked on without being harassed. He walked in the women’s department for a while, aimlessly looking at the perfumes on display, the colorful cosmetics. The beautiful jeweled fabrics in the apparel department.

Then he wandered over to homewares, and gently fingered every item he came across – porcelain plates, bone china cups, heavy curtain fabrics, sparkling vases. Frilly cushions, indulgent bedsheets. He stared at ugly canvases that monkeys with paint could do better, and he giggled at the price tags.

He took the escalator up to menswear. What had the man said again? Buy himself some clothes?

Reluctantly, he picked up a pair of jeans. The price tag made him blanch, but he draped it over his arm anyway. The jeans he was currently wearing were loose and baggy on him, and weathered with frequent washes. He had had it even when he was still in Nibelheim. Maybe it was time for a new one.

On the way to the dressing rooms, he walked past a striped shirt. It felt like brushed cotton, soft to the touch. There were sky blue stripes across the pristine whiteness of the collared long sleeve, and he lifted the hem and looked at it.

Those stripes reminded him of the pinstriped suit his benefactor had worn last night. It had been the first thing Cloud had seen of him in the Display Room since he had his head down, hoping not to be picked. And yet the man had stopped in front of him anyway, and those stripes had moved into Cloud’s vision.

He picked the shirt in his size, and took it with him.

Inside the change room, he hung up his clothes neatly and put on the new ones.

He looked at himself in the mirror. Those jeans looked good on him. It went well with the striped shirt.

Cloud had never looked more like a carefree, young adult. For a moment he let his mind wander. Dressed in these duds, he felt like a different person. Maybe someone who was out on this pretty day, shopping on the weekend. All he had to worry about were silly little grievances at work, a mortgage that he made steady payments to, and a friend that he was going to meet later at the movies.

Cloud cracked a smile at his own reflection. He wasn’t half bad looking at all. Then he noticed something in the corner of his eye, and used his fingers to swipe at it.

A tear.

That was strange. He wasn’t crying.

He looked a little closer at his own reflection.

His chin wobbled, his eyes blinked furiously. He was _crying_?

Standing there, in a shirt and jeans that he hadn’t paid for yet and would never have been able to only a day ago, he started weeping for a past that he could not change, and for a present that hung over his head, and a future that had seemed as bleak as smoke.

But it had all changed, because this stranger had come into his life, and had saved him.

Cloud crouched down, curled into a ball, biting down on his tongue as those silent, uninvited tears kept coming. He was shaking from head to toe, vibrating so hard that he was quite afraid he wasn’t going to be able to keep his balance.

There had been so many dark days where he simply thought himself as the unluckiest human being on Gaia. But now it was apparent that it was the exact opposite – there was no greater fortune than the one that had befallen him when the man picked him out of a lineup of whores. 

When he finally composed himself enough to get dressed into his own clothes again, he took the jeans and shirt with him and paid for it, handing over Sephiroth’s navy blue credit card with its limit of 10k a day. That alone was insane to him. His own existing credit card had a limit of 1k a day, but the closest he ever got to spending that much was when he had put down that security deposit for a tiny room in a dingy walk-up apartment when he first arrived at Midgar.

The transaction went through without a hitch, and he was handed a classy cream shopping bag with his new clothes folded up neatly.

Cloud clutched it tightly in his hand.

He took the train back, and then had to get on a bus to get to the apartment, which was in such a swanky location there was no such thing as public transport around it. He had to walk a little bit more, and when he did get back it was already nightfall.

His stomach rumbled.

Cloud stood in front of the electronic lock, and tapped in the four numbers. He pushed the door open, and stopped dead.

He stared straight at the silver-haired man who stood in front of the television, watching the news. He had a highball crystal in his hand, filled with amber liquid. He had shed his jacket, carelessly tossed it against the back of the leather couch. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and he wore his navy waistcoat over those tapered, matching pants.

Sephiroth looked at him as he entered, his eyes barely flickering. With surprise? With acknowledgement? With acceptance? With welcome?

Was this real? Was this truly happening?

Just the sight of the man brought back the unbelievable events of the previous evening.

No matter how many times he pinched himself, it didn’t seem like he was going to wake up from this beautiful dream anytime soon.

He stared at his benefactor, into that stony, blank stare that gave away nothing except a hint of politeness. And then Cloud decided then and there, that it was all right. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his days worrying about what possible favor he had done this man for him to feel like he owed Cloud a debt. At any rate, whatever he had apparently been owed had been repaid a hundred times over, because he completely changed Cloud’s life.

And for that, Cloud was immensely grateful. He relished this opportunity to start anew. He didn’t know what he wanted to do next, but for now, this man had brought him time and opportunity.

So Cloud gave him a shy, tiny smile instead of trying to put all of his gratitude into words. ‘Hello.’


	4. Chapter 4

Cloud walked forward, trying to disguise his own hesitation with a confidence he did not feel. He carefully placed his purchases on the floor, next to the kitchen counter. ‘I … went out today. Um, to the department store. I bought some jeans and a shirt with your card,’ Cloud said.

Sephiroth continued sipping at his whiskey. ‘That card is for your personal use. Don’t feel as if you need to report to me what you’ve done with it.’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said. ‘Is there anything I can do for you? Would you like me to put together something for dinner, perhaps? I can hang up your jacket for you, if you wish.’ He started towards the sofa, reached for the jacket when a hand clamped down on his wrist. Not hard enough to hurt, but firmly enough to draw his attention and for his gaze to snap up.

He stared into the man’s jade green eyes. So beautiful, and yet so cold.

‘Leave it,’ the man said. ‘You don’t have to do anything for me. That is not why I brought you here.’

‘Oh, sorry,’ Cloud said, and he felt all the muscles in his body stiffen, his heart start to pound. It was as if his brain had just realized that the man was standing too close to him for Cloud to feel comfortable. The way he towered over Cloud, that spicy musk that emanated from him, those overwhelming alpha pheromones …

Cloud gulped, and yanked his wrist out of the man’s grip just as the man let go of him.

The tension between them broke.

‘I’m pleased to hear that you had a good day,’ Sephiroth said, as if their prior exchange hadn’t happened. ‘Is there anything else you need around here?’

‘No,’ Cloud stammered. ‘Your apartment is very beautiful, and I have everything I need. I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done for me.’

Sephiroth nodded curtly, and turned to head back to the kitchen. ‘There’s some dinner in the fridge if you’re in the mood for it. The housekeeper made chicken soup and fresh bread today.’

‘I will, thank you,’ Cloud said. Sephiroth was watching him so expectantly that Cloud almost felt obliged to ladle out a bowl of soup for himself. He was just politely opening the cabinets to find a bowl when Sephiroth gently placed down his glass on the kitchen counter, and grabbed a small saucepot from the cabinet next to the stove.

He ladled out half a pot full of soup, and set it on the burner, waiting for it to come to a boil. He gestured for Cloud to sit down.

Cloud obediently climbed up onto the stool.

‘I understand you have been taking your inhibitor medications regularly. Would you require any more supplies, now that you have left the Butterfly House?’ Sephiroth asked.

Cloud had checked that he had about two months’ supply left before he would have to start sourcing it for himself. Inhibitors that worked as well as the ones he took did not come cheap, but he had gotten them for free as part of his service at the Butterfly House.

Omega heats were unwelcome at the brothel unless a client specifically requested for one. And it had to be a very special sort of clientele – one with tremendously deep pockets. Cloud personally hadn’t had a heat since he began working, and he liked keeping it that way. He had heard enough shit about omega heats to know that they fucked you up big time, especially for unbonded omegas who sold their bodies for a living. It was just asking for trouble, and Cloud always made it his personal mission to stay right out of it.

Even though Sephiroth had freely offered him the use of his personal credit card, Cloud felt awkward about using it to buy something so intensely personal as his medication. ‘I have enough for two months. I’ll look into procuring my own supplies after that,’ Cloud said. He hoped to be somewhat financially independent by then.

Was it even possible though? He had been a whore the last couple of years, and before then he had taken on odd jobs to survive. He had only finished high school, and then life had thrown a wrench into the works. He had no tertiary education, and certainly no financial means to get ahead either. Whoring had been his entire world, and what he knew. 

But now that his ticket to freedom had been purchased and given to him for free, he would be damned before he went back to whoring again.

Sephiroth seemed to be able to guess at his facial expressions. ‘If you haven’t given any further thought to what you wish to do from here on, I want to remind you that there’s no hurry.’

‘I can’t keep sponging off you,’ Cloud said quietly.

Sephiroth changed the subject. ‘Tell me about what you liked doing, before you came to Midgar.’

‘Me?’ Cloud said, startled. ‘There was nothing much. I went to high school in Nibelheim, and I wasn’t a particularly gifted student, nor did I have many other talents.’

‘Have you considered simply exploring your options for now? Trying to find out for yourself what you enjoy and what you like without the pressure of earning money to affect your trajectory?’ Sephiroth stirred the pot once, twice. He turned to Cloud. ‘Did you have any hobbies growing up? Any ambitions?’

‘We had a piano at home,’ Cloud said, and shrugged. ‘It wasn’t like I was good at it though. I enjoyed playing it, but I’m really a beginner. As for ambitions … I forgot them when I stepped foot onto Midgar City.’ Whatever ambitions he had harbored had been destroyed when he came to Midgar and realized that someone like him, with no advanced qualifications, zero work experience, and to add insult to injury, was an omega to boot, had little to no choice when it came to jobs.

‘Why did you come to Midgar?’

Cloud debated on how much to tell the man. On one hand, this man had saved him. On the other hand, Cloud barely knew him, and he hated telling this story. It was nothing special, and completely pathetic. But something in the man’s gaze demanded Cloud’s honesty. He was a man used to cutting right to the heart of things, Cloud could tell.

‘My mother was sick,’ Cloud explained carefully, and without emotion. ‘So sick that being out in Nibelheim was just going to kill her faster. I took all our savings and brought her to Midgar, sought out the services of the best oncology hospital here. I thought I could find a job, help supplement the savings.’

Cloud looked away. ‘But I was young and naïve, and desperate, I guess. Between rent and food and my mother’s hospital bills, I realized I was way over my head. I took out a high-interest loan from the Butterfly Group, and then my mother died. Long story short, I had to pay back the loan and the only thing I had of value was my body. My … omega body.’

He hated even thinking about how pathetic it had all been.

Sephiroth ladled the soup into a bowl, placed it in front of Cloud. Cloud picked up the spoon, and began eating quietly.

‘I’m sorry,’ Sephiroth said.

Cloud shrugged. ‘I was young and stupid, it’s no one’s fault but my own.’

‘You are aware that the Butterfly Group is a subsidiary of the Shinra Corporation,’ Sephiroth said.

‘I know,’ Cloud said. He had taken out a loan from the mafia, and that had been such a stupid thing to do. But there was a great deal of irony here – a man from the exact same organization that had damned and exploited him had now, in turn, saved him.

Cloud ate methodically until all the soup was gone.

‘What happened to your home in Nibelheim?’

‘I turned the deed over to them to pay half my debt. Without it, I would have been contracted to work at the brothel for twenty years instead,’ Cloud said. He took to the bowl to the sink, washed it carefully by hand before popping it onto the drying rack. ‘Look, it is what it is. I guess … I’m just trying to take it one day at a time.’

‘What are your plans for tomorrow, then?’ Sephiroth asked.

Cloud shrugged. ‘I don’t really know. But maybe get some groceries, learn a couple of culinary skills while I sort out my thoughts? I’ll probably pound the pavement, maybe try to find a job—’

‘No,’ Sephiroth said.

‘No?’ Cloud asked.

‘I don’t want you to find a low-paying job just to earn money. I want you to think about what you want to do next, whether it’s going back to school, or pursuing your own interests.’

Cloud picked up a drinking glass and filled it full of water from the tap. Then slowly, measuredly, he gulped it all down. He washed the glass, put it away. ‘You can’t do this.’

‘Do what?’

‘I don’t know what you want from me,’ Cloud said. ‘But you’re telling me I’m free to use your money as I see fit even though you’ve just spent an astronomical amount of money bailing me out from my ten-year debt. You’re feeding me and clothing me and putting a roof over my head and yet you won’t let me repay you, and you won’t tell me why. It’s driving me crazy because no one in this world is this kind!’

‘I’m not kind,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I want to help because I can. If you choose not to work, that is fine by me. I am financially capable of providing for you. It does not bother me if you choose to live in this apartment for the rest of your life. I only ask that you do not use or bring drugs into this house. I find the use of it, whether recreational or not, to be rather distasteful.’

This from the man who worked for a syndicate that had a monopoly on the manufacturing, trafficking and dealing of illegal substances.

‘So no drugs,’ Cloud said easily. He never dabbled in them anyway. ‘Do you mind if I brought a lover here?’

Sephiroth’s gaze flickered slightly. Was it annoyance or amusement, Cloud genuinely couldn’t tell. ‘Yes, I would probably mind,’ the man said. ‘After all, I was hoping that when the time is right that you will consent to being my lover instead.’

Struck speechless, Cloud’s mouth gaped open. As those words processed in his mind, deep, coiling swirls of lust churned in his belly. He had never, ever felt like that before. 

‘You said … you said that you didn’t want anything from me,’ Cloud stammered.

‘Just because I don’t want anything from you, doesn’t mean that I don’t want you,’ Sephiroth said. ‘You’re a very attractive man, Cloud.’

‘Then … tell me what you’ll do to me,’ Cloud said, feeling all of the saliva inside his mouth dry up.

The man moved closer to him, so close that Cloud feel the man’s warm breath against his ear, and it made him shiver. ‘I want to make love to every inch of your beautiful body, and I want you writhing under me. I want to fuck you so deep inside and so relentlessly until you’re screaming only my name.’

All the air in the kitchen seemed to have disappeared. ‘Then do it,’ Cloud swallowed.

‘Not until you truly realize that I have no other agenda when it comes to you,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I don’t want you to see me as your benefactor, someone you need to repay. I don’t want you to give yourself to me because you were once a whore. I want you because you’re Cloud Strife of Nibelheim.’

Cloud didn’t know how it was possible, but the man stepped even closer, and they were still not touching. In that low, sexy voice, Sephiroth said, ‘I want to be your lover, and I want you to give me all of yourself. Not just your body, Cloud. But only when you’re ready.’

Cloud gently dropped the spoon back into the half-finished soup. ‘Why don’t I remember what I’ve done for you before? I have no recollection of you at all, and I’m sure if I ever met you I would have remembered. Your silver hair is very distinct.’

‘You were a child,’ Sephiroth said. ‘There’s no point returning to it if you have forgotten. I do not mind. What I want you to do is to concentrate on the here and now, and perhaps contemplate the possibility of a shared future.’

‘Why would you want me when you look like that? Like you can have anyone in this world?’ Cloud swallowed.

‘I can, but they are not you,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I would like to leave it at that, Cloud. I’m afraid that I might have come on too strong for you, and I hadn’t meant to do so.’ He walked over to his jacket, picked it up and shrugged into it. ‘I have to return to work anyway.’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said, and felt a sense of deflation. He stood awkwardly, stuck his hands into his back pockets. ‘Is there … would you like me to cook tomorrow evening instead? Um, just in case you were coming to the apartment. You don’t need to, of course, but I—’

Sephiroth stopped his uncontrollable spurt of inane words when he simply turned to Cloud, eyed him in a steely manner. ‘Anything is fine with me,’ he said. ‘I want you to tell me what you want instead. Think about it. Have a good night.’

‘Good … night,’ Cloud said, and closed the door behind the man’s retreating back. He sank down to the thick carpet, feeling his cheeks and ears flame crimson, warm to the touch. He had never had anyone come onto him like that, with such brazen confidence. It was ridiculously flattering, and such a turn-on as well.

Cloud pressed his hands against his cheeks. Of course he wanted the man as well. Who wouldn’t? Well dressed, beautiful smelling, a face carved by angels, the sheer confidence that emanated from him … the man knew he was deathly attractive, and never once pretended he wasn’t.

Cloud had many men and women before – an uncountable number, almost. Some of them he knew by name because they were repeat customers, but most of the time it was unmemorable and indistinct from each other. Each encounter was characterized by how hard he had to work; how sore various parts of his body would be by the end of it. Each person that had him had merely become simply a hulk of flesh that took everything from him and gave little back.

It wasn’t to say he didn’t find release. On the contrary, he had, in at least half of the encounters. But he knew that each orgasm that he had was tied to the fact he got so little in exchange for what he gave them. A whore’s pleasure was inconsequential and he learned quickly that it was faster and simpler to learn how to fake it, say the right things and continue to weave the illusion for his clients.

But this was the first time in his life that he had felt such honest, genuine desire, a deep attraction for this man. On the surface he looked cold and dangerous, but was oddly kind and gentle to Cloud. The juxtaposition was startling, and Cloud wanted to see more. He wanted to delve right in. 

Even from the moment they first met, the attraction was already there. And looked like it wasn’t one sided either.

He felt like a freaking virgin, although he was the last thing away from being one.

This was bad, Cloud thought. This was dangerous. He knew nothing about the man.

And yet … was it really that bad?


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning he was eating breakfast when his first text message from Sephiroth came through. Like its owner, the message was polite and cool. _Will you be at home around noon today? There’s a scheduled delivery._

Cloud quickly typed back, _Of course_.

The message that came back was, _Thank you. Feel free to place it anywhere you want_. And that was it.

Cloud didn’t have many plans today. He did intend to go down to the shops, pick up a few fresh food supplies. Last night he had Moogled a few recipes. Roast chicken looked like it was something he could do, and the rich vanilla soufflé looked impressive if he could pull it off. He didn’t really know how to thank the man, but he supposed this would be a good first step.

He wanted to get to know Sephiroth better. Who was this man? Cloud had done enough research to understand that the man worked at the Shinra Corporation, but the company itself was merely a legal front for the syndicate’s activities. If he was the consigliere he must be a very powerful man, but he didn’t look old enough to be in his forties.

He didn’t have a wedding ring on his finger, but Cloud had known men long enough to know that sometimes meant nothing at all. Plenty of married men didn’t wear rings, or chose to take it off before they fucked a whore.

At any rate, it was a nice thing to do for the man who had helped him so much. He was looking forward to it, actually. He’d texted Sephiroth and asked if he was available to join Cloud for dinner, and the answer had been affirmative. It was past the time of reacting to the circumstances, and time to enact his own wishes, as it were.

He finished breakfast, then went out to grab a few necessary items from the swanky supermarket nearby. It might have been two train stations away, but it was worth it. The selection of ingredients they had in the classy place came at a premium, but he knew from childhood experience that sometimes good ingredients were worth it.

During celebrations such as his birthday and Yule, his mother always dropped her hard-earned savings on the best supplies she could find. She always said, ‘Quality ingredients makes a good meal even better.’ His cooking skills were decent, but rusty, so he figured he could use the leg up.

He returned to the apartment just in time. And when the doorbell rang he opened it only to see a couple of deliverymen hauling a massive object behind him. Cloud stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Is that …’

‘Yes, a delivery for unit 5501?’ one of the men enquired politely.

‘Um, yes,’ Cloud said, completely and utterly caught off guard. He moved aside, held the door open as the men moved it in.

‘Where would you like it, sir?’

When Sephiroth had texted him to say he could leave it wherever, he had naively assumed that it was a delivery box of some kind. When he had allowed his imagination to wander foolishly, he had even thought that it might be a bouquet of flowers, in which he could put into a vase and then put it anywhere he wanted in the apartment.

But he hadn’t expected this. A whole goddamned piano.

‘I don’t … really know,’ Cloud said quickly. Had the man really bought a piano literally half a day after they had a conversation about his hobbies growing up? The man was shockingly generous. How rich was the man anyway?

Perhaps it was best that Cloud didn’t know.

Cloud looked around the immaculate space. The piano could go anywhere, really. ‘Just over there then,’ Cloud said, pointing to a space against a wall that had a gigantic watercolor painting and nothing else. It was just between the dining area and the living room, and it made sense to him. Anyways, if Sephiroth didn’t like it there he could change it later.

The deliverymen put the piano in place, and even dusted it down briefly so it was clean and gleaming. ‘She’s tuned and all ready to go,’ the man said, and had Cloud scrawl down his signature on the delivery order, and then they parted, closing the door silently behind them.

Cloud looked at the piano, ran his hand over the smoothness of the lid. This looked like a model he had when he was growing up in Nibelheim, except that of course, his was much older and worn and this looked like it cost the entirety of his childhood home.

He lifted the lid, slid onto the piano stool, then tapped at the ivory keys. C, and then D, then E, , F, F#. His fingers danced slowly over the keys and he listened to the sharp, crisp sound that emanated from the soundboard. Yes, this was a much superior model than what he had before.

He noticed a plainly wrapped box at the foot of the piano. Curious, he unwrapped it to find piano books of all kinds. Scales, simple children’s songs, classics made easy, piano basics, then increasingly more complicated arrangements.

He wondered how much of those skills stayed with him. Playing well involved a great deal of muscle memory and practice, but it had been so many years since he had heard piano music, let alone even touched one.

Were there even any songs that he remembered?

Perhaps there was one. His right hand descended gently onto the keys, and then even as he positioned his fingers the song came to him and his left hand moved on its own. A cheerful little ditty, often whistled. An upbeat arrangement of notes played to _Allegro_. He messed up a couple of times, but for the most part it came through, the sounds of home were sweet and familiar. With a little more practice, he would be able to play the song perfectly.

And when he was done with that, he could start using those books.

Cloud smiled to himself. Not only was his benefactor a kind man, but a supremely thoughtful one as well. Despite the man’s cold ferocity the first time they had met, it was hard not to be attracted when Cloud had seen such an appealing part of him.

With some excitement, he carefully put the books into the piano stool and then stood to head to the kitchen. He didn’t know how long it would take him to make a roast, throw together a salad, and bake a vanilla soufflé, but he wanted to make sure he had it all ready whatever time that the man chose to visit him.

It was just past noon, so he made himself a sandwich and then proceeded to look at the recipes on his mobile with the cracked screen.

The recipes turned out to be direct and straightforward on the surface, but a little more challenging for an amateur cook who was barely able to read between the lines. He had to stir the gravy until it was a ‘moist golden brown’, but he kept wondering if this was the exact shade it was asking for. He tasted it and thought that it was a little runny but tasty, and had then added some flour into it to thicken it up before realizing that it was now a shade too thick.

The soufflés itself were easy enough to assemble, but he had struggled to operate the mixer and it had taken him an embarrassingly long amount of time to even put it together. His first set of soufflés promptly collapsed before he found out that he wasn’t supposed to keep opening up the oven to check on them.

He looked at the time then, decided that he could probably make another batch while the chicken was roasting in the oven. He washed and chopped up the potatoes and carrots, tossed them in oil and salt and pepper before throwing them into the oven as well, only then discovering that he had forgotten the soufflés.

There were some leftover batter, so he greased out another two ramekins. This time, he set the alarm on his phone so he would definitely remember.

He was just examining the completed dishes when there was the sound of the electronic lock disengaging, then Sephiroth walked into the apartment, a little bit startled as he caught sight of the kitchen, and a disheveled Cloud.

Cloud looked at the kitchen. He had made such an unholy mess. Unwashed pots and pans in the sink, various ramekin jars with deflated soufflés littered all over the counter space, measuring spoons and jars dirty and sticky with wet flour. Oh dear.

‘I’m so sorry,’ Cloud said, truly embarrassed. He had meant to clean up before the man came home, of course, but had gotten so caught up in making a new batch of soufflés that he had failed to keep an eye on the time. To his mortification, it was now nearly seven in the evening.

The roast was now tepid and sweating underneath the plate, which completely destroyed the crispy skin effect he had been going for, the gravy now cold and gelatinous. The carrots and potatoes were charred at the edges and rubbery, with a slightly unpleasant effect of being a little too crunchy still. There was four soufflés on the counter, and two more in the oven.

What on Gaia were they going to do with six soufflés?

Cloud started giggling. ‘I am so, so sorry I made such a mess. I wanted to make a nice dinner, and it’s … not really very nice at all. It’s nothing special at all, so would you like me to call for takeout? Or I can go out to pick up something that you prefer.’

Sephiroth merely shed his jacket, tossed it over the couch as was his habit. He rolled up his shirt sleeves neatly to his elbows. He didn’t look pissed, merely unbothered, maybe with an edge of amusement. ‘I’ll help you clean up, and we can sit down and have your dinner.’

‘Oh, no, I’ve got it right here,’ Cloud said, quickly turning on the taps at full blast to start scouring the pots and to throw plates and bowls into the dishwasher.

‘Let me give you a hand,’ Sephiroth said, and he came into the kitchen. Cloud directed him to reheat the food in the oven, and he wiped up the counters as Cloud dealt with the dishes.

By the time they actually sat down to a dismal table of food, it was nearly eight.

‘It looks lovely,’ Sephiroth said, surveying the charred, sad-looking vegetables, the soggy looking roast, and the soufflés that probably never rose in the first place. At least the salad looked nice – colorful and cut semi-neatly.

Cloud only began to laugh, and lifted his fork. ‘You said … I should tell you what I wanted. I want to know you a little bit better.’

‘All right,’ Sephiroth said, almost warily.

‘Could you … tell me a little bit more about yourself?’

‘I’m afraid I live a very dull life, Cloud. I spend the majority of my time at work, and the rare occasion when I’m not, I’m at home with my children. My primary residence is over in Sector 3.’

Made sense. Sector 3 was the realm of the rich and privileged of Midgar. Then the other shoe dropped, and he nearly choked on the chicken. 

Cloud’s heart dropped into his stomach. ‘You have children,’ he said, almost in disbelief. ‘You have children?’

‘Yes, triplets, in fact,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Five year olds. Very noisy and curious handful, and they always seem to be magnets for trouble.’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said, and felt the wind taken out of his sails. The man was married, and even had children too. A part of him questioned why this would be a problem in the first place when it never had been – he had fucked his fair share of married man and he never had moral objections about it. ‘Right,’ he stammered. ‘You’re married.’

Sephiroth looked up. ‘No.’

‘No?’ Cloud asked. The man was a _single father of triplets_?

‘No,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I’ve never been married. Although the presence of a mother would be favorable, it seems that my triplets do well enough with their nanny and godfathers, as well as preschool. Also, they have a grandfather who frequently pampers them with completely useless presents. They’re very spoiled.’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said, feeling a small smile manifest on his face. The way Sephiroth talked was so odd. _The presence of a mother would be favorable??_ How the heck had the triplets come about? From a test tube? ‘Do you have any pictures of them?’

Sephiroth pulled out his phone, flipped through it until there was a photo displayed on screen. ‘Their nanny sent me this yesterday.’

Cloud looked at it. Three semi-identical boys, with smiles that almost reached their eyes as they hammed it up for the screen, making various v signs with their fingers. They all looked so much like Sephiroth – the elegant features, and especially the silver hair. They all look like less intimidating, cuter miniatures of Sephiroth. They were his all right.

‘They’re very cute looking,’ Cloud said, smiling.

‘They’re spawns of the devil,’ Sephiroth said dryly, as if ironically agreeing with the implications of what he meant.

‘Well, if they are, they’ll be fine,’ Cloud said, smiling. ‘The devil isn’t as bad as he’s reputed to be.’

Sephiroth chuckled darkly. ‘I suspect you would be the only person on Gaia to hold that opinion.’

Cloud suddenly realized that their conversational tones had become more flirtatious rather than casual, and he tried to steer it back. It occurred to him that he had forgotten to thank Sephiroth for one very important thing.

‘The piano ... it’s gorgeous.’

‘I hope it will meet your needs,’ Sephiroth said.

‘Thank you,’ Cloud said. They ate quietly for a while until Cloud had the courage to the mention the other thing. ‘I wanted to find out … if we could be compatible.’

Sephiroth nodded.

‘What … exactly are you looking for in a partner?’ Cloud asked.

‘Loyalty.’ The answer came immediately, and without hesitation. ‘How about you?’

Cloud hesitated. ‘I don’t … really know? I’ve never been in a proper relationship before,’ he said, quietly and quickly, hoping to gloss it over. It was sad that he was nearly twenty-seven and hadn’t known much beyond casual dating. And that he had done when he was a teenager.

And after that, he had been too busy surviving to even think about something as indulgent as a relationship.

But now, thanks to his freedom, it was possible. Assuming that his partner didn’t mind his past, of course.

‘Do you care?’ Cloud asked impulsively. ‘About the fact I worked at the Butterfly House?’

‘If I didn’t, I would not have removed you from there,’ Sephiroth said.

‘No, what I meant is …’ Cloud fumbled for the right words. ‘Are you sure you want me despite knowing exactly what I’ve had to do at the Butterfly House?’

‘You’d be a fool to think that it’s affected your worth as a man,’ Sephiroth said, so brusquely and unemotionally it struck right at Cloud’s heart, and ignited an unexpected spurt of anger.

‘You don’t know,’ Cloud said. ‘You don’t understand.’

‘What?’ Sephiroth challenged. ‘You think just because you’ve sold your body it makes it worthless now?’

Cloud pursed his lips.

‘It doesn’t matter to me,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Like I said before, loyalty is the single most important quality I require in a partner. Loyalty to me, and me only. I do not care who you’ve fucked in the past, as long as once you are with me, I am your only.’ He was unabashedly possessive, and so brutally frank that Cloud almost flinched. ‘Are you thinking about us already?’

‘I’m thinking,’ Cloud said evasively. ‘I literally have nothing to do all day, so all I do is think.’

Sephiroth put down his fork, having finished eating. ‘Then what would you like to do?’

‘I don’t know,’ Cloud admitted. ‘It’s just that … I never had to think about it. So now that I have time on my hands I literally don’t know what to do.’

‘Would you like to travel? See the sights?’

‘Maybe, but not right now,’ Cloud said. He didn’t want to leave just yet. He wanted desperately to find out more about this man, who he was. What he wanted. ‘If that’s all right with you, I would just like to stay here. Get to know this new, strange life. Get to know you.’

‘That’s perfectly fine with me,’ Sephiroth said.

Cloud smiled at the man. And after the slightest, tiniest hesitation, leaned forward to place his hand on top of Sephiroth’s. Not really squeezing, nor holding, but close enough to feel the warmth emanating from the other man’s hand.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a quarter to six in the evening, and usually he would be heading over to his apartment at this time. Cloud liked to wait for him to have dinner together, and it became a predictable little routine that Sephiroth looked forward to, even enjoyed.

For an entire week since he started making use of the kitchen, Cloud had taken it on himself to master a different technique each day. One day it was bread, and then another was risotto. Last night had been poached eggs, which Cloud had struggled with. In the end, they had eaten three mangled-looking poached eggs apiece and called it a night.

‘I’m getting a little tired of this,’ Sephiroth said, and checked his watch.

‘Got it,’ Genesis answered, and raised his gun at the set of twins currently sitting in front of them, tied to their chairs. At the sight of Genesis’s lifted gun, they both squealed in terror, and Sephiroth sighed and put his hand on the barrel of Genesis’s handgun.

‘I’d like to wrap this up,’ Sephiroth said coldly. ‘I have dinner after this, and I don’t like to be late.’

‘You always have dinner appointments nowadays,’ Genesis said in a baffled voice, eyeing Sephiroth suspiciously. Sephiroth shrugged.

‘Please,’ the older of the twins said. Sephiroth had seen the desperation in her eyes, so he turned to her.

‘Talk,’ he ordered.

‘We weren’t stealing much,’ she said, sniffling. ‘Only what was on President Shinra’s desk, whenever he had us summoned to his office. And he didn’t even do it that often! He preferred us in his penthouse, and he usually never brings home any documents! Please, we don’t know anything, we were just told to do it.’

‘Who was your contact at the Periculum Group?’ Genesis asked.

‘We don’t know! We were just asked to send photos of the documents to an anonymous phone number. And we’d get paid, that’s all.’

Sephiroth opened up his hand, palm up until a phone taken from the woman’s handbag was placed into his hand. He swiped it until he was looking at the messages. There were poorly taken camera shots of various documents. There were a lot of them, but none of them particularly important. No matter how careless Shinra was, at least he wasn’t an idiot.

Sephiroth dropped the phone back into the woman’s handbag. ‘Is there anything else you would like to tell us before we finish this?’

The woman stared up at him in terror. Next to her, her twin brother had tears streaming down his face, trying to scream from behind his gag, and trying but fruitlessly to get out of his bindings. 

‘I told you everything,’ her voice cracked. ‘Can’t you at least spare us? If you let us keep our lives you’ll never see us again! We’ll leave, we’ll go to the Northern Continent if we have to, please.’

‘I’m afraid that’s quite impossible,’ Sephiroth said. ‘You’ve been feeding information to Periculum for far too long. About six months, isn’t that right? It’s only a matter of time you show them something important.’

‘Please …’ the woman begged.

‘The old man doesn’t tolerate traitors,’ Sephiroth said, and gestured to Genesis with the go-ahead sign. Genesis was quick as he was efficient, and he fired one bullet through the sister’s head, then through the brother’s before he even realized what had happened.

The bodies slumped in their chairs, and the smell of gunpowder permeated the stale air of the hotel room. 

‘Goddamned old man and his whores,’ Genesis said as he holstered his gun. ‘At least let us fucking vet them first. But nooo, he fucking grabs them off the street. Who the hell knows how many diseases they even have?’ He shuddered.

Sephiroth sighed tucked his hand into his pants pocket, and glanced irritably at the single speck of blood on the cuff of his white sleeve under the jacket. ‘Messy, Genesis.’

Genesis shrugged unrepentantly. ‘I’ll pay for your dry cleaning. And speaking of, what’s with the blond whore you’re currently stashing away in your apartment?’ Genesis asked, and Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at him.

‘He’s not a whore,’ Sephiroth said. He should have known that Genesis would come after him at some point. Nothing escaped his attention for long. The man might be flighty and dramatic, but he had a finger on the pulse, which was what made him such a good enforcer. 

‘Yes, I guess he isn’t anymore, especially after you paid off his freaking debt, and with such a generous tip too. A million Gil for a whore, Sephiroth? Is he that good of a cocksucker?’

‘It’s not like that,’ Sephiroth said, but stopped short of explaining. He didn’t know what to say to Genesis, especially when he himself was grappling slightly with the situation at hand.

He had felt immense relief and gratitude, of course, when he had seen the blond.

But then after the relief, there had been something else. Attraction, he had thought it in the first place. And it turned out it had been a little more than that. It was complicated and strange, provoked within him a series of unfamiliar feelings and emotions. He definitely felt something for the blond.

Question was, what was it exactly?

That reminded him. He needed to make contact with the CEO of the Butterfly Group and find out exactly what was the deal with Cloud’s contract. It sounded fishy to him, especially when it came to the sale of Cloud’s Nibelheim home. It seemed suspiciously underpriced to him, and he wanted to know if Cloud had been duped.

If he had, which had led to him whoring himself out … then Sephiroth would make sure fairness, if not justice would be meted out to the appropriate parties.

‘You thought I wouldn’t find out?’ Gen asked snippily.

‘I think it was unlikely that you would not find out,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Although I confess I hoped that it would take you a little longer.’

‘You asked my best friend to pay him a house visit,’ Genesis bitched. ‘To take blood tests and check his general health. By the way, my best friend is a talented trauma surgeon. Could you not squander his talents like that please?’

Sephiroth shrugged unrepentantly. ‘He’s the only doctor I know personally.’

‘Bullshit,’ Genesis said. ‘You know plenty of doctors. Angeal is the only one you trust.’

‘Isn’t that the same thing?’

Genesis took out his phone and called for the cleaners. Once he was done, he eyed Sephiroth. ‘About your whore—’

‘Genesis,’ Sephiroth said, with that steel in his voice that told Gen to back off. And Genesis did, although there was a glint in his eyes that suggested that the matter was far from over.

They parted ways at the lobby of the hotel.

‘I’m headed back to the Tower, then I’m having dinner with Angeal at the new Corellian restaurant opened near his hospital. You’re free to join us with your …’ Genesis narrowed his eyes. ‘… friend.’

‘Thank you,’ Sephiroth said, ignoring that snide little pause. ‘But we’re fine. I’ll see you tomorrow, Genesis. Get a trace on the contact at Periculum. I suspect there are more moles planted, and I want all of them weeded out by the end of the month. They’re not particularly smart, but they’re sneaky little bastards.’

‘Got it,’ Genesis said. ‘See you tomorrow.’

‘Good night,’ Sephiroth said, and slid into the backseat of his car. He instructed the chauffer to head for the Sector 3 apartment. His phone vibrated, and Sephiroth took it out from his jacket. He looked briefly at the caller ID, then pressed it to his ear.

‘You got a minute?’

‘I’ve got two for you, then I’m hanging up,’ Sephiroth said. He couldn’t wait to get back to the apartment to see what Cloud had in store for him today.

‘Heard you tied up loose ends with the Bettencourt twins,’ Vincent Valentine said.

‘News travels fast,’ Sephiroth said dryly. ‘And I was also under the impression that you were retired.’

‘Semi-retired,’ Vincent said. ‘Also, no one told me. I just assumed, because I heard that you collared them. They’ve been on the run for a week now since you started eyeing them.’

‘Well, they didn’t make things it look less suspicious when they ran,’ Sephiroth said. ‘It’s a dead end anyway, with them. They barely got anything of value. Whatever Periculum paid them, it was too much.’

‘They were better in bed, I suppose. The old man was constantly bragging to me how good they’re in bed, and with their mouths.’

Sephiroth sighed. ‘I don’t really care to know.’

‘I’ll tell you what you want to know, then. I’ve scheduled a delivery of a climbing frame to your house for tomorrow morning. Your kids are going to crap themselves.’

‘What climbing frame?’

‘You know … it’s one of those dome things that kids can climb on. And I think it’d look great next to the playhouse.’

‘Did they really need that wooden playhouse?’ Sephiroth asked, recalling that wooden monstrosity that had been delivered to his home just last weekend.

‘Of course they did,’ Vincent said. ‘Did they like it?’

‘They liked it so much that they spent all of last weekend playing in it. Didn’t come inside until it was time for dinner. You should have heard those little fuckers too. Constantly brawling and fighting over who was the boss of the house.’

‘Speaking of beautiful grandsons, I placed an online pre-order for their Yule presents.’

‘ _Yule_? We’re half a year away from Yule. What did you get this time?’ Sephiroth asked, almost resignedly.

‘You know those motorized mini-cars? Yeah, those. I got one for each of them. Yazoo gets the convertible, Kadaj gets the coupe, and Loz can have the jeep.’

Sephiroth sighed. He could put money down that those little bastards were going to ride over and break someone’s toes before Yule celebrations were over.

‘They keep asking me when you’re going to visit,’ Sephiroth said.

‘I’m trying to,’ Vincent said, and sighed. ‘I’m busy.’

‘With being retired?’ Sephiroth asked, slightly incredulously. Vincent Valentine had served the Shinra Corporation as consigliere for twenty years, and had only retired nine years ago.

Vincent had been his mentor, his teacher. And where it had counted, his father. They might not be related by blood, but they were united by their love for the woman who had given birth to Sephiroth. She had been gone for a while now, but as long they were both around, Lucrecia Crescent would never be forgotten.

‘I’ll come in next week,’ Vincent said. ‘I promised them I’d take them to the arcade.’

‘I thought I had five year olds, not fifteen year olds.’

Vincent scoffed. ‘You clearly don’t know children nowadays. Anyways, I have to make my dinner now. Send the children my love.’

‘I think there’s quite enough of your love to go around. Please stop buying them things.’

Vincent’s only reply was to laugh, and hang up. Sephiroth pocketed his phone, just as the car pulled right up to the curb. Sephiroth looked at his watch. He’d give himself a couple of hours to have dinner with Cloud, and then he would head home. He was sure the triplets were going to be pleased that their father was around to read Jack and the Beanstalk over and over again.

When he arrived at the apartment, the first thing he heard was the sound of Cloud playing the piano. Sephiroth was familiar with classical music, but little less so with more modern tunes. What Cloud was playing was upbeat and cheerful, a simple song. But it wasn’t without mistakes. When Cloud did press the wrong key, he’d simply fix his mistake, and carried on.

The song was pleasant on the ears, although not particularly memorable. But Sephiroth found himself tremendously enchanted anyway as he stood as the doorway and listened patiently. Cloud clearly hadn’t heard him come in.

He removed his jacket, and tossed it on the back of the couch. He caught sight of that tiny splatter of blood on the cuff of his sleeve, and again felt a spurt of irritation. He had to remember not to stand too close next time. He rolled up his sleeves up to his elbows.

There was a particular fragrance in the air that suggested that whatever Cloud had made, it was baking in the oven. Buttery and rich. A pastry dish perhaps?

The second scent he detected was a lot lighter, a little bit sweeter. He sniffed the air discreetly, and enjoyed a thrill rushing through his veins. Cloud had unknowingly filled this apartment with his sweet omega scent. It was not overpowering or overwhelming in anyway, just mildly suggestive of the cleanliness of lavender and the sweetness of vanilla.

Sephiroth tugged at his iron will, his supreme self-control to tamp down on that instinct that rose inside of him. The need to protect, the will to dominate. He wanted to grab Cloud, slam him down on the bed and fuck him until he screamed Sephiroth’s name. He wanted to rip off that leather choker Cloud still wore around his neck, and bite down hard on the back of his neck until his skin bled and the scar of bonding was imprinted forever on his pale, tender flesh.

He looked at Cloud now, and felt a sense of protectiveness. Some days, he still had trouble believing that Cloud was now living in his apartment. Safe, protected. Not the little spiky haired child who saved him so long ago, but a grown man, sweet and quiet and lovely in his own way.

It was only when Cloud finished the entire song that he looked up, as if suddenly realizing that he wasn’t alone. His startled face instantly relaxed into a welcoming smile, an expression of genuine pleasure to see Sephiroth.

He rose, just as Sephiroth walked up to him. They didn’t touch, but they were standing close enough that Sephiroth could fully inhale the man’s sweet pheromones. They were getting a little stronger now, possibly a reflection of his blossoming feelings for Sephiroth. ‘Welcome back,’ Cloud said.

Sephiroth stared down at him, and those guileless, gorgeous blue eyes stared back. He didn’t want to do much before Cloud was ready, so instead he smiled and averted his gaze. ‘Thank you. What did you get up to today?’

Cloud relaxed into a laugh. ‘Wait until you see what I’ve made. You’re going to be so impressed.’

And just like it was the most natural thing in the world, he slipped his hand around Sephiroth’s, and tugged him forward into the kitchen.


	7. Chapter 7

Genesis plopped his butt in Sephiroth’s visitor’s chair, flouncing down as he sat. He was wearing one of his ridiculous custom-made crimson suits. Sephiroth couldn’t deny it looked good on Genesis’s slender and deliberately sculpted build, but frankly he would rather not be standing next to Genesis in public. It attracted too much attention for Sephiroth to be comfortable with.

He put down his pen, and stared at Genesis. ‘The report, Genesis.’

Genesis shrugged nonchalantly, and handed over a suspiciously thin folder. ‘I’ll warn you so you don’t get an aneurysm, but it’s not what you wanted to see.’

For years now the Shinra Corporation’s R&D Department had been busy developing a new line of rutting suppressants for alphas. The ones that were currently saturating the market had been the same, with the formula unchanged for at least twenty years now. Sephiroth had been pushing for greater innovation, considering how far they had come with omega heat inhibitors.

Shinra Corporation operated as a legal entity under its business banner in addition to its less legal enterprises, but that only meant Sephiroth had his hands full trying to actually get real work done. Everything more unsavory was under his purview, but everything legal needed to go through him too, as the appointed CEO.

He couldn’t lie and say that sometimes he looked at Vincent with envy. Vincent had taken his retirement in stride, and had a house on the outskirts of Midgar City. He lived quietly in a well-appointed villa surrounded by lush greenery, and was content between doing nothing and frivolously wasting his generous retirement fund by buying his grandsons useless toys.

Sephiroth skimmed through the very brief report. ‘This is abominable. Three weeks’ of waiting and this is what I get?’

‘This is what you get,’ Genesis said. ‘You know this sort of research takes time. But it’s on track, all right? And you know the old man listens to you. Goodness knows why, he avoids logic and reason like the fucking plague.’

Sephiroth tossed aside the report, and shook his head. If he had to go down to the labs to put the fear in God into those goddamned useless scientists, he would do it.

The thought of suppressants reminded him. He had offered to procure Cloud some more, but the man had demurred, and Sephiroth didn’t understand his reservations. After all, Shinra had cornered the market. The pharmaceutical arm manufactured and sold most of the products available.

‘Right. Want to join us for lunch? We’re going to that restaurant in Sector 2 that does specialty Mideelian cuisine.’

‘No, thank you,’ Sephiroth said. He usually had his secretary get him a salad as she came back from lunch.

‘All right then, your loss,’ Genesis said so brightly that it piqued Sephiroth’s suspicion. He looked up.

‘Who are you going with? Angeal?’

‘Yes,’ Genesis said. ‘Angeal, and this sweet little blond I found in an apartment in Sector 3.’

Sephiroth stared at Genesis. ‘I told you to back off.’

‘And I did. But he said he had never had Mideelian cuisine before, and I said I would take him.’

‘And when did you have this conversation?’

‘This morning,’ Genesis said. ‘I popped into your apartment because I thought you might be there, to drop off this report. I knew you were waiting quite eagerly for it.’

Sephiroth’s ignored Genesis’s horse shit. He was never at the apartment in the mornings. ‘And care to share with me the conversation you had with him?’

‘Well, first of all, what a lovely young man he is. So polite and sweet, although I have to say that he seems a little on the shy side. He invited me in, and made me a mug of tea. That reminds me. You really should have a chat with him about stranger danger. We didn’t talk about much, he was a little bit unwilling to talk about himself after all. So I regaled him with tales about my best friend.’

‘Which best friend?’ Sephiroth asked.

‘I’m sure you can imagine which one,’ Genesis smiled, and got to his feet. ‘Ah well, I did say that I would do my best to invite you for lunch, and he seemed to perk up at that idea. I’m sure he’ll get over his disappointment though, once he discovers the magical madness of Mideelian raw fish. I’ll send him your regards.’

Sephiroth put down his pen, and sighed. For the briefest moment he debated on leaving Genesis to his own devices. He was never going to keep Genesis away from Cloud in the first place; the man was switched on as he was nosy and interfering.

But even so, it felt like he was throwing an infant into a deep end with a swimming shark, and the name of that shark was Genesis. So he stood up, got his jacket on.

Genesis preferred to take his car – a sporty little two-door that was as flashy as it was impractical. He took it past the speed limits, and Sephiroth didn’t even bother saying anything. Genesis seemed to enjoy racking up speeding tickets, and then used it as an excuse to go down to the department to raise hell. When he was finally shown into the Traffic Commissioner’s office, he’d give the man a good cock-sucking and magically make the tickets go away.

Sephiroth was very familiar with how Genesis operated.

When they arrived at the restaurant, he found Angeal and Cloud already there, in deep conversation. The blond was dressed in that outfit that he had bought for himself, and Sephiroth found it difficult to tear his eyes away from those long, clean lines. That pert little ass leaned forward slightly as he was absorbed in the conversation with Angeal, and Sephiroth wondered what they were talking about.

His mind wandered briefly to hauling up the blond, taking him home and bending him over the kitchen counter. Sephiroth wanted to smell his pheromones as he curled his fingers inside of the omega, and listen as the omega keened his desires unabashedly.

Sephiroth sighed, then allowed the waiter to show them to their table. His gaze shifted from the blond to Angeal, who had looked up, and his gaze winged straight at Genesis.

He had long seen the way Angeal looked at their mutual friend. Genesis was either the world’s most oblivious man, or a man with supreme powers of denial.

It was none of his business, but across time, he had seen the light in Angeal’s eyes dim just a little bit more the longer Genesis drew out his own ignorance of the man’s feelings. Angeal was fast approaching a break point, and Sephiroth sometimes wondered how much longer he could hold out for. Probably not for long, but … it was not his place to interfere.

‘Sephiroth,’ Angeal said, and Sephiroth nodded.

Cloud turned to him, a beam on that gorgeous face. ‘Sephiroth.’

Genesis took the opportunity to cut right in between them. ‘Cloud,’ the bastard said effusively. ‘It’s so good to see you again. Thank you for joining us today, I think you’ll find yourself quite fascinated with this sort of cuisine.’ He elbowed Sephiroth out of the way just so he could sit opposite Cloud, their hands still clasped together.

Sephiroth didn’t show his disgruntlement, and instead sat down next Genesis. It was a tiny consolation, but at least he could still see Cloud’s face and how it was lit up, all bashful and sweet. Sephiroth had never pegged him to be a shy one, but it turned out Cloud’s personality was stoic and quiet rather than the childlike effervescence that Sephiroth had encountered when they had been mere children, but that was to be expected too.

After all, he had only been four years old then.

The waiter arrived with the menus, but Genesis didn’t even need to look at them. He ordered frivolously and lavishly, knowing that either his boss or the feted trauma surgeon was going to foot the bill. But when the food came, Sephiroth found it hard to concentrate on what was in front of him. It was almost a challenge to even listen to the conversation, which flowed like sparkling water.

Instead, he watched the omega as he picked at the food, ate. Smiled, talked, laughed. It might have been a brief amount of time, but that wariness he had on his face when Sephiroth first saw him at the brothel … it was almost all gone.

He found himself well pleased by that. 

And that was when it occurred to Sephiroth – that he had it really, really bad.

Goddamnit. His eyelids fluttered closed just he put down his fork.

It wasn’t as if he hadn’t expected this. He just hadn’t expected this to happen to so quickly. He felt blindsided by his own feelings. Yes, there was a lot of fondness and positive anticipation, and the attraction between the both of them was undeniable.

When he opened his eyes, he felt resigned to it. It might have happened ahead of schedule, but he had been prepared for it anyway. In a way, it made him even more determined to win Cloud over to his side – and he knew exactly what Cloud needed. Sephiroth intended to give it to him, and more, if only to see him blossom like the flower he was.

That meant Sephiroth needed to be one thing – patient.

But even as he thought that, he couldn’t deny that his own willpower was severely tested at the end of lunch. It had been over too quickly, and he hadn’t heard a single word that the three of them had said.

Genesis had snuck out for a cigarette and Angeal had followed him, leaving the both of them at the table as Sephiroth settled the bill. ‘That was a wonderful meal,’ Cloud said.

‘I’m glad you enjoyed it.’

They stood up together, and Sephiroth reached for his jacket. As he was about to get it on, Cloud appeared by his side, held up the sleeve so he could help Sephiroth shrug into the jacket. And even once the jacket was on, Cloud’s hand hovered at his sleeve.

Impulsively, Sephiroth captured his hand, and brought it to his lips for a brief kiss, before letting go.

Cloud looked up, quiet pleasure obvious on his face.

‘I’ll see you at the apartment tonight?’

‘Yes,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I’ll be there around six. Are you going to be fine getting home?’

Cloud smiled at him. ‘No problems. I was thinking of doing a little more shopping, since I’ve never been around here before.’

‘The weather is getting cooler. Buy yourself a few coats and cold weather attire to add to your wardrobe.’

‘I will, thank you.’

Sephiroth watch him thank Angeal rather earnestly before he gave them an awkward little wave, and departed first on foot. Genesis and Sephiroth got back into the car. ‘I like your whore. He has personality and guts.’

‘He’s not a whore,’ Sephiroth said mildly.

‘OK, OK, he’s not a whore … anymore,’ Genesis agreed. ‘Anyways, I can see why you like him. He’s kind of like you, if you were cute and nice.’

Sephiroth grunted.

Genesis looked at his phone when it pinged. ‘The old man wants to see you.’

Sephiroth pursed his lips. ‘Why is he telling you to tell me?’

‘Because he knows you’re going to ignore him if he goes through your secretary,’ Genesis said dryly. ‘You won’t see him outside of the scheduled weekly meetings.’

‘That’s what they’re for. Specific time slots in my schedule so he gets all the time he wants to tell me all about his grand plans to destroy the city of Midgar with cut-rate drugs and petty turf wars with small-time gangs.’

Genesis chuckled sadistically under his breath. He was probably the only one in this entire world who knew Sephiroth’s true feelings for the old man. Sephiroth knew he could trust Genesis with his life, and he would rather die than betray his friend.

As was his usual habit, Sephiroth pushed his own feelings down deep before he gathered his folders and went into the president’s office on the 70th floor. The meeting had begun innocuously enough.

‘Sephiroth,’ Shinra said, a big smile on his face. ‘Just the man I wanted to see.’

‘President,’ Sephiroth said, tipping his head slightly before he took a seat. He opened his folder, began reporting on that week’s projected profits and unexpected expenditures. It was the same information he would typically bring up during the board meeting, and he had assumed the old man wanted to know a couple days early. But the old man stopped him almost immediately.

‘Not that, Sephiroth,’ he said patiently.

Sephiroth put down his folder, scrubbed his entire face of expression, and projected only flinty neutrality. This did not bode well.

Their relationship was strongly dependent upon predictability, and the old man knew Sephiroth preferred they use an intermediary between them for anything outside of the usual business. The old man knew to keep his nose out, because Sephiroth functioned best independently and with minimal supervision. In exchange, Sephiroth knew exactly what the old man liked doing – pissing away money on vacations, the luxuries of life and whores. And he had allowed it that way, because it was quid pro quo.

‘I recently heard about your recent acquisition through the grapevine,’ the old man began.

_Acquisition?_

He would call a person an acquisition, like he was a thing instead of a human. Sephiroth didn’t even dignify this with a response.

‘Imagine my absolute fascination when I heard about this! The inscrutable Sephiroth had actually deigned to enter a brothel and buy out an omega whore’s contract.’ The old man smiled. ‘I saw a photo of the blond. Now I understand that male omegas are typically on the pretty side, but I must say, he’s one the prettiest. What a comely young man.’

Sephiroth preferred to cut straight to the heart of things. ‘You want him.’

‘Oh, well, not for me, of course!’ The man’s laughter was grating on Sephiroth’s already stretched nerves. ‘I’m too old, and the last thing I want is a fucking child. But speaking of asshole children, you know my useless son.’

‘Rufus Shinra,’ Sephiroth said, and every word that came out of his mouth was dragged out reluctantly. He wanted to laugh, feeling rage bubble through him. He already knew where the old man was going with this.

‘Holed up in that villa in dirty, swampy Wutai. Who the fuck knows what he gets up to there. He has zero ideas about settling down, but sometimes a man just needs a firm hand. And with a personality like Rufus’s, it won’t do to have just any woman. Don’t you think with his strong alpha tendencies that he needs a good, loyal omega to dominate? One that will stay by his side?’

‘And you’re going to tell me why you think this particular omega will suit his tastes,’ Sephiroth said, smiling humorlessly.

‘Well, as if Rufus is going to go for any virginal omega. He’s a fucking deviant at heart. Since your blond is a whore anyway, there’s no doubt he would be good in bed. He’ll keep my son there between his legs.’ The old man peered expectantly at Sephiroth. ‘What do you think about this arrangement? Of course, since you paid off his contract, we’ll compensate you for him. In fact, take a bigger Yule bonus this year. That should be enough, wouldn’t it?’

Sephiroth was rendered speechless. Even as he felt the surge of rage that bubbled in his veins, he could feel an almost irrepressible urge to laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am both surprised and disappointed no one has commented at the lack of the filthy smut in this fic. 
> 
> Surely you don't mean to tell me you're here for the plot. Hah!
> 
> Type #sexytimes to ask for smut. 
> 
> Type #forkyou because you enjoyed that cliffhanger so much. 
> 
> Type #whatareyouon if you're wondering where this story is going. 
> 
> Type #youcrazyforker if you trust me to keep taking you there, although just barely. 
> 
> As always, thank you for the kudos, but especially the comments. I haven't had the time to reply to all of you wonderful people, but trust me, each time I read them, I'll laugh quite heartily for a few seconds. Nothing quite like validation from strangers, and let's face it, we're all the same deep down anyway - all weird pervs with a strange sense of humor.


	8. Chapter 8

In a way, he’d known that this would happen.

The old man hated Sephiroth with every fiber of his being, and couldn’t stand it that he was the one person in the entire organization that he couldn’t break. From the moment Vincent had handed over the mantle of consigliere to him nine years ago, Sephiroth had suspected that the old man was afraid that he was going to usurp his position one day. Perhaps it had something to do with his astronomical upward mobility at Shinra Corporation, or perhaps the old man was a control freak with an edge of sadism for torturing those around him.

What the man sometimes forgot was that Sephiroth was a Shinra thoroughbred – it had been knocked into him from a young age that his loyalty belonged to the corporation, to this particular family made of ties of fidelity and blood money.

No matter how much Sephiroth disliked the old man, he would never do anything to jeopardize that legacy.

But still.

Still.

The one thing that he wanted for himself – this wonderful blond omega.

Cloud had lived in his dreams from the moment Sephiroth had departed Nibelheim. For years the thought of that simple kindness from the little boy made Sephiroth want to live, to fight despite how the circumstances were trying to crush him. He allowed himself to be molded into something tougher, stronger.

Of course the years had gone by, and he had grown. He hadn’t always thought about the boy, of course. There had been much more important things to pay attention to. Occasionally he’d remember, and would then wonder how he was living his life now. Sephiroth always imagined that the kind little boy had grown up to be a decent man, taken a wife, eked out a modest living in Nibelheim, living happily with his own children.

In Sephiroth’s mind Cloud was happy. And he deserved it. Some one that kind deserved to be loved and happy.

And it wasn’t until that single Monday evening, having met with a Wutaian agent who insisted on meeting in Sector 4 that he felt his past and present collide. He had just sealed the deal for a large purchase of firearms by the agent and was heading back to the Tower. He sat in the back of the car as they had stopped at the light.

Serendipity had him looking up, and glancing at the Butterfly House. The establishment was infamous – everyone knew exactly what they could get from there. Prohibitively priced, well regulated, with notoriously low thresholds for client violence. It was a place where omegas were goods, as long as you could fork over the money.

Sephiroth did not need to visit an establishment like that to know what to expect. But what did surprise him was the blond that walked out of it. That silky cornflower hair, those spikes, the blue eyes, now no longer sweet and kind but wary and exhausted thrust Sephiroth back into his past.

He had just put out the sign that the establishment was open for business for the evening. He stretched, his body unfolding briefly only to resume their inward slouch, defeat clearly etched in every line of his figure.

And then the blond disappeared from his sight as he re-entered the establishment.

All of a sudden, Sephiroth’s foolish dreams of that little blond living his happy life back in Nibelheim shattered like glass. That was not reality, this was. He castigated himself for not investigating earlier, for taking it for granted that the universe rewarded the just and kind. That only scum like himself would be steeped in the deep shadows.

But this was destiny, he realized. Destiny had thrown this into his lap, and the choice was his.

He knew without a doubt what he had to do next.

And Cloud was now where Sephiroth wanted him to be – safe, protected, and happy.

The old man wanted to take him from Sephiroth.

He had been too blindsided by his own blossoming happiness that he had forgotten the most important thing of all.

Back inside the uselessly opulent office, the old man was still talking.

‘It’s about time that Rufus gets his ass back here. I want him to get married, bonded, settle down. I’m sick of watching him fuck around with that beta of his. Idiot boy was always a bit of a deviant, that little bastard.’

He got up, pulled the stopper from his decanter and proceeded to pour out two glasses of bourbon. Sephiroth never liked it much, but he allowed the old man to press a glass into his hand. Absently, he brought it to his lips, took a sip. It burned as it went down.

‘What do you reckon, Sephiroth? Would Rufus like this omega?’ Then he laughed. ‘Of course, I wouldn’t want to step on your toes, of course. If you had him already earmarked for yourself, then that’s a whole different matter. But that can’t be it, surely? Omegas are for procreation, and you couldn’t possibly want more! You already have your children, after all.’

To admit that he wanted something for himself, that his loyalty was now divided, was as good as suicide. The old man was circling him, looking for the slightest weakness.

But Sephiroth was loath to admit anything at this point.

Besides, he was too busy fighting the wall of rage currently building up inside of him.

Not again, he thought. He swore that he wouldn’t let it happen again, wouldn’t let the old man corner him like this.

It wasn’t Cloud that the old man wanted. It was the fact that Shinra was demonstrating his superiority. He had done this to his parents once – had placed Lucrecia between Vincent and Hojo and demanded that she choose. And when she finally had, it was the last decision that she had ever made.

It had been an effective lesson to them – Vincent, and Sephiroth, her young son. It was a warning to them to toe the line. A reminder that no matter their importance, their success, their lives were literally in his hands.

‘Have a think about it, son, and let me know,’ the old man said jovially. ‘It’s high time that he steps his lazy ass up on the plate. In the meantime, I’m still working on trying to get that little son of a bitch home. I’m sending one of them … what were their names again? The psychotic little crackhead and his partner.’

‘Reno and Rude,’ Sephiroth supplied automatically.

‘Yes, that’s right. One of them is en route to picking Rufus up as we speak. Didn’t want to risk sending both betas, knowing my son and his perverted tendencies. He’ll probably try to fuck him too. Goodness knows, of course, if he’ll be able to convince Rufus to come back. And if he does, give him a raise for the good work.’

‘Right,’ Sephiroth said shortly.

‘Maybe I’ll send you. It’ll be sure to scare the shit out of him,’ the old man said, his eyes twinkling with humor and mirth.

Yes, why wouldn’t he send his consigliere halfway across the world just to pick up a prodigal son?

No matter the fortune Sephiroth had stockpiled, the influence and power he had stacked on his side, the respect he commanded from his own men – he was nothing in Shinra’s eyes. Just a lackey who came in useful, to be petted when he had done well, and whipped just to show his master’s dominance.

Sephiroth couldn’t believe this was happening again.

Six years ago, the old man had felt threatened enough to begin to question Sephiroth’s loyalty. There was nothing to question – but a mob boss’s whims had to be satisfied, somehow. Shinra had been utterly convinced that Sephiroth was at the age to settle down. He’d first politely instructed Sephiroth to make a family.

The instructions had been politely ignored, and then the silent battle of wills began, and lasted until the old man gave him a choice. Either do it, or have his loyalty to the group be in question.

Which was to say, it was no choice at all.

He’d been told to attend a meeting in a hotel room, which turned out to be a trap in itself. He had been thrown into a room with a stranger, an omega in heat. His own rutting suppressants had been tampered with. There was only one logical way out, and the old man was betting that Sephiroth would do it, now that the gun was held to his head. 

It was only through sheer willpower – and supreme disgust at being treated like he was no better than a rat in a lab – that he had managed to walk out of that room under his own power. He had never forgotten it.

He had stood there, in the hotel corridor, sweat running in rivulets down his clammy skin. The smell of the omega had been overpowering, unpleasantly so. His head had been throbbing violently, and every pore in his body was screaming for release.

No, he was no longer a rat in the labs. That time of his life was over. He was now an adult, a grown man. No longer a powerless child at the mercy of an insane genius.

The next week, he walked into the Midgar Fertility and Reproductive Center and arranged for the process of artificial insemination and gestational surrogacy. Money was not an issue; success was. They asked him how many eggs he wanted – they said three was usually the safe number; so he said three.

And he had ended up with the triplets.

He had done the process out of sheer spite, and hadn’t banked on developing actual feelings for his own children. But he had.

He’d watched the triplets in their little plastic cots at the hospital. So tiny, and fragile, tucked under their knitted beanies and swaddled tightly in their muslin cloths. Sleeping quietly, as if nothing could touch them. Cute little upturned button noses, skin so pale and thin with a layer of fine hair the exact shade of their father’s.

They were his.

So he took them home.

He wasn’t sure how he did it, of course. But money solved many of his problems – he had a day nurse, and a night nurse. A nanny, and a housekeeper. He only had two arms, yet there was more than enough space in his heart for these little beings. He wasn’t a hands-on father, not at all. He barely knew what to do with them, and when they cried or yelled or screamed he’d merely handed them over to a pair of waiting arms.

But there were moments where he held them, when they were fast asleep or cooing quietly at him. Sometimes when the night stretched out and one of them grizzled a little bit, he’d pick them up so they wouldn’t wake the others, then rock him for a while. He’d stare at them, they’d stare at him and babble gently. And those quiet, solitary moments were his, and his alone.

The old man could never take those moments away from him.

He wasn’t a good father, not even close. He didn’t spend nearly enough time with them, but he made sure they would want for nothing, and he brought closer his circle of friends and family to stand in on his behalf. Their nanny was as good as a mother to them, their grandfather was loving and paternal. Their godfathers – one godfather for each child – were all unique, caring and loving in their own ways.

And already their personalities were starting to resemble their respective godfathers. Kadaj was a crafty and clever lunatic like his crimson-wearing godfather, whereas Yazoo was serious and quiet like Angeal. And the less said about Loz and the permanently energetic brainless charm of his godfather the better.

That had been a compromise, a roundabout fulfilment of the old man’s preposterous request. It was his way of saying that he would obey the old man’s orders, but on his own terms.

From that day on, he knew that something had changed.

That little seed of resentment and hatred that had taken root, tempered by a lifetime habit of loyalty, now began to bloom, but slowly. He told himself: Never again.

All his life he had worked for the Shinra group in some capacity or another. From a lowly foot soldier, to a caporegime in charge of his turf, to a CEO of one of Shinra’s subsidiaries that dealt in various racketeering deals, mainly money laundering before moving to headquarters. He’d work his way up, put in the time. He trimmed the fat, methodically brought their competitors down to their knees, and brought in so much money that they couldn’t count it fast enough.

But on the day the old man congratulated him on the birth of his sons, he realized then and there he was nothing but Shinra’s lapdog.

One day, when he was ready, it would all end by his own hand. He waited now only the single flame that would set it all alight.

And he wondered if this was it.

Sephiroth stood up, pulled himself to his full height. ‘No.’

‘No?’ The old man raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘No what?’

‘No,’ Sephiroth said. ‘If Rufus wants an omega to bond with, I will personally find him one. But he won’t get the one currently under my protection.’

‘I see,’ the old man said. ‘Are you sure you won’t reconsider, Sephiroth? We’re willing to compensate you for the loss of your … companion. And I can put in a good word for you at the Butterfly House, get you another comely, blond omega.’ He smiled.

But it was not a smile. It was a warning. That if Sephiroth chose to persist in his own stubbornness, there was going to be hell to pay.

‘No, I’m quite sure,’ Sephiroth said brusquely, but calmly. He knew he had just thrown down the gauntlet. ‘Now if there’s nothing else you’d like to discuss, I shall see you at Thursday’s board meeting.’

Without waiting for an answer, Sephiroth swept from the office, vowing that he would see this sadistic game right through the bitter end.


	9. Chapter 9

Rufus leaned back against the long couch, stretched out his arms on either side, and crossed his legs. The overhead fans were whirring anemically, but the sun was about set, sending a mild evening breeze floating into the shaded patio.

He had finished his workout and subsequent shower. And was now lounging about in a sapphire blue silk dressing gown that felt cool and soft against his bare skin. There was a glass of the finest Wutaian whiskey on rocks in his hand, and there was nothing more he could want for.

Oh, wait. Yes, there was.

He looked towards the man who stood by the doorway, skimming and clicking through the reports he had just received on his electronic tablet. He might have been placed on an extended leave of absence, but that meant nothing to him. He had a pulse on the ground, and his subordinates still sent through reports every week or so. 

Despite the stifling humidity, he stood there in his black suit, fitted neatly onto his slender frame. His jet-black hair was straight and long against his shoulders and back, not a single hair out of place. It didn’t matter what time it was and how hot the day had been, he always smelled the same – a combination of a cool, spicy cologne specifically made for the warm humidity of Wutai, and the smell of clean skin and soap.

Not a single pheromone. Not even the slightest whatsoever.

And yet, despite being a beta through and through, hidden under that waterfall of hair, on that pale, slender nape was a bite. Unfortunately, not a permanent one, no matter how many times Rufus had bit down on it.

‘Tseng,’ he said.

Tseng looked up, his eyes questioning and wary.

Rufus took a sip of his drink, then spread his legs.

There was a flash of indignant annoyance in that gaze, before that curtain was drawn, and there was nothing but calm indifference in those clever eyes. He put down the tablet on the edge of the table before he walked over, purposefully and focused.

To him, this was like any part of his duties – guarding Rufus was the same as fulfilling Rufus’s every whim, he had learned. Rufus didn’t like it any more than Tseng did, but it was the dynamic between them, and had been since the day they met.

He knelt down in front of Rufus, placed his cool hands against either side of his thigh. Then he bent his head.

Rufus closed his eyes, reclined comfortably against the cushions.

Yes, this had been exactly what he had been missing.

That warm mouth on his cock.

And not just any, either. Tseng’s clever tongue and stubborn mouth was what needed, and wanted.

*

He watched as Tseng spat into the sink, and rinsed his mouth with mouthwash. He leaned heavily against the sink, catching Rufus’s gaze in the mirror.

Rufus had moved from the couch to the doorway of the bedroom, feeling a looseness in his limbs and relaxation that only came from an orgasm. He sipped his drink, tasted the chill from the ice cubes. ‘Let’s fuck.’

Tseng looked at him with irritation, now not even bothering to veil it. ‘I believe that you just came.’

‘Since when did we have sex with just the intention of me coming?’ Rufus asked, a small smirk on the corner of his mouth.

Tseng avoided his gaze, and the topic at hand. ‘I should go.’

Rufus stepped up behind Tseng, placed his glass right on top of the back of Tseng’s hand splayed on the counter. ‘Don’t move,’ Rufus advised. ‘The glass might tip, and we’ll have to clean it up.’

‘ _We_?’ Tseng said incredulously. ‘You have never cleaned anything in your life, young master.’

Rufus pressed his lips to the side of Tseng’s neck, just above the starched collar of his shirt, and allowed himself to scrape lightly at the tender skin with his teeth. He had his entire body pressed up against Tseng’s, which was why he could feel the full body shudder that ran through that compact little frame.

The ice cubes in the glass rattled ever so slightly, but the glass remained steady.

‘I want you,’ Rufus whispered into his ear, right against the shell and elegant curve of it, where he knew Tseng was most sensitive.

‘You already had me,’ Tseng said. ‘The entirety of last night. I’m tired.’

Rufus loosened the man’s tie, unbuttoned the shirt and stuck his hand into his chest. Tweaked his left nipple, and luxuriated in the stifled moan that Tseng couldn’t successfully suppress. ‘It’s not enough. It’s never enough.’ He could have Tseng over and over again for the rest of his life and it would still not be enough.

‘Steady,’ he whispered, even as his free hand snuck down, deftly undid the buckle of the belt, loosening his pants enough for him to yank down Tseng’s pants. He slipped his fingers inside of Tseng, listened to that hiss of pain at the rough invasion.

And still, the glass barely moved.

Tseng was still a little loose and soft from all the nasty sorts of things that Rufus had done to him last night, and into the early hours of dawn. But he was no omega, with no natural lubrication. But Rufus persisted, and the stroking and stretching paid off, as did Tseng’s visible efforts to relax his entire body.

Rufus used his left hand to wrap around the entirety of Tseng’s thick hank of hair, yanked back roughly enough that Tseng’s throat was bared. Rufus bit down hard on the side of his neck, even as he thrust his hips against Tseng’s ass. The glass of whiskey tipped, before Tseng’s hand shot out reflexively, grabbed it to place it safely on the corner of the vanity.

No matter how much pain and pleasure that Rufus inflicted on Tseng, he would barely make a sound. It had something to do with his training, and his Wutaian stoicism that gave him a patient, enduring personality.

Rufus flipped Tseng over to meet him, and he felt like he could melt into those flinty hazel eyes, as pissed off as they were turned on as they bore into him. Disapproval warred with what he considered was his own indulgence, but Tseng still relented enough to curl his slim legs around Rufus’s waist, let himself be carried over to the bed where it still faintly smelled of the sex they had last night, and the warm bloom of Rufus’s own alpha pheromones, despite the fact there were fresh sheets on the bed.

Rufus was generous with the lube, squirting up massive amounts all over Tseng. He wanted Tseng out of that stiff suit, those boring clothes that he always insisted on wearing. As if no matter what happened between them, he was more than eager to demarcate the invisible line between them – employer and subordinate. He never called Rufus by his first name, and instead called him Vice President.

His personality was cold and professional, but his body was hot in bed, and could drive Rufus to the edge of his own oblivion as he chased that pleasure. He wasn’t soft like a woman, but not as sultry like an omega or powerful as an alpha, but there was a resilience and strength in those flat angles of his body, the way he braced himself against Rufus’s every whim. It convinced him that Tseng would never break no matter what.

It was a contradiction of sorts to Rufus, turned him on as much as it infuriated him.

He yanked Tseng’s clothes off his body, and undid his own robe even as he rolled a condom onto himself. He pushed Tseng into the mattress, thrusted against the hips held high until all he heard were quiet grunts and the balled up fists against the pristine bedsheets. That inky black hair shone against the pale skin, occasionally brushing up against the constellation of moles that dotted his shoulder blades.

Rufus thrust harder, and all he got for his efforts was Tseng white-knuckling the sheets, each tiny groan a reluctant vocalization of the pleasure assaulting his body.

He shot his release as Tseng’s muscles clenched up around him, and he groaned audibly and collapsed, forcing the both of them onto the mattress. But Tseng was never one for post-coital affection, and as soon as Rufus pulled out Tseng sat up, started gathering his clothes.

His demeanor was cool and aloof, and something Rufus was more than familiar with. It had been that way since day one, and perhaps it was simply better that way. No ties, no affection. Only the pleasure that their bodies sought after when Rufus wanted it, was in the mood for it.

By the time he got up, discarded the used condom, and belted his dressing gown, night had already fallen. The stifling heat of the day had given way to the brisk coolness of the late evening.

When he made it out into the living room, there was a hot dinner ready for him on the table, set for one. As usual, Tseng wouldn’t eat with him.

‘Rude is on the way here as we speak,’ Tseng said.

‘Right,’ Rufus answered, and sat down. Tseng decanted a bottle, and poured him a tart red to go with his seared steak and vegetables. ‘Why?’

‘I believe your father wants you back in Midgar,’ Tseng said delicately. ‘He made that suggestion during our last correspondence.’

Rufus waved dismissively. ‘He can take his suggestion and shove it up where the rain doesn’t shine.’ He never once gave a shit about what his father wanted. He took a sip of his wine. It was very good.

For now he had no intentions of returning to Midgar. There was no point anyway. His father had been the one who had exiled him to Wutai simply because he had feared the threat that his own son presented. So long as he had that silver haired bastard by his side as consigliere, he had no need for an heir.

He couldn’t stand the man. Everything, from the calm way he spoke, to his unearthly, cold beauty, put Rufus’s teeth on edge. That man had been groomed from birth for this role within the organization, and yet Rufus would rather die before trusting him.

He’d been told, again and again that one day Sephiroth would be Rufus’s own consigliere, and it was best that they cultivate that relationship while they were young. But how could Rufus trust someone who had that insolent gaze in his eyes?

The one that suggested that Sephiroth felt like he was better than all of them. Like his loyalty was merely dependent on who his owner was, and how he was treated instead of an innate personality trait.

But of course, he was no different – Sephiroth was the same as Rufus, who was the same as the old man. They were all fucking scum of Gaia, exploiting the weak through their amassed power and influence. They made money, but not because they needed it. They made money, because they could and it was all a giant game to them. Rufus held no illusions that they were paragons of good behavior in the society that they governed – they were parasites of the highest order.

And yet without them, the city of Midgar would collapse. They were a necessary evil, and Rufus accepted it.

Years ago, when Rufus tried to take a more active role in the drug wars that had been waged against law enforcement, it was his own father who had cut him down, pulled him back. It was fine with Rufus, but that also meant he would return when he was ready to, and not because the old man wanted him there.

Besides, it was more entertaining to sit back and watch from a distance. He enjoyed watching the silver haired bastard orchestrating the grand performance, pulling strings from everywhere, working like a dog only to have Rufus and his conniving piece of shit of a father enjoy the fruits of Sephiroth’s labour.

When Rude arrived unruffled in his pristine sunglasses despite the darkness of the evening, Rufus poured him a glass of his finest Wutaian highland whiskey. That stuff didn’t come cheap, and Rude knew it. But Rufus always had a soft spot for his trio of Turks – what he called the motley group of enforcers under his command. They were tough and reliable. He left Rude and Reno back at the city, where he knew they thrived.

But the leader of this little trio he had brought with him. Tseng, of course, ever resourceful and purposeful, found himself comfortable with being both Rufus’s bodyguard and personal assistant, despite there being no need for either.

And after a while, he had found himself accepting a third job – Rufus’s bed warmer, apparently.

‘Vice President,’ Rude said.

‘How are you, Rude?’ Rufus asked. ‘How’s that bratty roommate of yours?’

‘Still bratty, unfortunately,’ Rude said. ‘Sir, I’ll just come right out and say it. You know why I’m here, don’t you?’

‘Of course,’ Rufus said. ‘I certainly wasn’t expecting you to join me and Darkstar for a spot of hunting tomorrow, although you’re certainly welcome to, of course.’

‘Sir, I am under the strictest instructions to escort you back to Midgar,’ Rude said.

Rufus let out a short bark of a laugh. ‘And they sent you to pick me up?’ Clearly the old man wasn’t quite serious enough. ‘Why is he sending for me now?’

‘He’s picked out a potential partner for you, sir. An omega,’ Rude said.

Rufus burst out laughing. He hadn’t expected that. He hadn’t expected that at all.

An omega. His father thought he could lure Rufus back to Midgar with a fucking omega. The mere thought of it sent peals of laughter rolling out of him.

‘Sir …’ Rude began, but Rufus cut him off almost immediately.

‘I won’t get married,’ Rufus said brusquely. ‘I’m not interested in an omega.’

Rude froze, but Tseng only sighed quietly.

‘But let me do you a favor,’ Rufus said. ‘Send my father this message. Verbatim, if necessary.’

‘What is it, sir?’ Rude said, almost in resignation.

Rufus stood, and patted Rude on the shoulder before he brushed past the man and headed for the bedroom.

‘You can tell my father to go fuck himself. I’ll go back when he’s dead.’ 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen. I know none of you asked for this, but I decided to throw it at you anyway. Why? Side character smut is better than no smut at all, I always say. 
> 
> I'm sorry about the lack of dicking from the main pair. This is the first fic I've ever written that's nine chapters in and still with no visible signs of dick, and for that, I'm totally ashamed. You can smack me if you want. Go as hard as you want, baby!


	10. Chapter 10

It began with a light touch of the fingertips against the curve of his jaw.

Those fingers were long, graceful, the pads of his fingers cool to the touch. And yet as the palm cupped his skin he could feel a deep heat emanating from it that he leaned into. Welcomed, embraced.

Then he drew his thumb against the soft flesh of Cloud’s lower lip, teasing at just the very edge of it.

Cloud’s tongue darted out to lick at it, tasting clean skin and just a little hint of salt at the edges. He allowed it to press into the warm tightness of his own mouth, and his tongue danced around it, sucked gently on it.

In response he could the man’s entire body awaken in lust, and suddenly he was out from the shadows, and Cloud could clearly see who it was. That long curtain of silver hair fell around the both of them, and Cloud felt dazzled and confused.

That body glided against his, and slipped between his open, welcoming thighs. The first contact filled him completely, and Cloud could hear a gasp being torn from his throat. He felt impossibly full, and every nerve tingled to life. His fingers dug into the man’s skin, feeling the toned muscles held taut against his assault.

Then Sephiroth moved inside of him, and Cloud felt like he had been set on fire. Electricity vibrated from his hips to his fingertips, and he could have sworn he heard his own blood gushing around.

Light-headed and gaze unfocused, it took everything he had in order to concentrate on this sensation of being fucked deeply, and thoroughly. By an alpha who wanted him, and not just because he was an omega.

Cloud rolled his hips down as the man thrusted up, and then it all disappeared as he rocketed into consciousness and reality.

Unfortunately, it was one that did not currently involve a certain silver-haired man and his cock inside of Cloud.

Cloud groaned in visceral disappointment, settled back onto his pillow. That dream had felt so real, and he could have sworn that he had really felt Sephiroth’s muscular body just on top of him.

But it was not to be, so he tried to settle back into sleep. And found that it was virtually impossible, since he was so hard that it hurt. He looked down at his crotch, with some sleepy indignation, and wondered if it would go away if he ignored it long enough.

With some resignation, he freed himself and starting stroking. His underwear was already wet with slick, which disgruntled him, because that meant he would have to change.

He closed his eyes, held himself with one hand, and began to stroke firmly. But even as the friction increased and the pleasure began to trickle in, he could feel himself getting wetter and wetter, and that secret place inside him ached, hollow and unfulfilled.

In fact, that feeling was downright unfamiliar, considering how many weeks it had been since he had to use it for work. He drew his knees up, allowed his fingers to delve into that little pucker, now slippery and wet. One finger slid into quite easily, and then two. 

His hands work in tandem to make short work of the orgasm that flooded his body. It was short, quick, and unsurprisingly rather unsatisfying, but that was par for the course for half his adult life now.

He scrambled into a sitting position, grabbed a couple of tissues and cleaned up the worst of it, but decided that he should get up, change, and at least rinse off his soiled underwear.

It was just twenty past one in the morning by the time he was done.

Cloud sighed, and decided to get himself a glass of water. Even as he walked out of the room, there was a shadow in the dimmed living room that caught his eye and made his heart lurch into his throat until he realized who it was.

‘Ifrit’s balls,’ Cloud yelped, jumping about a foot into the air. It was a miracle that his spiked hair didn’t brush against the ceiling. ‘Sephiroth,’ he stammered out. ‘You’re here. Late.’

‘I left my jacket here,’ Sephiroth answered neutrally as he eyed Cloud closely. ‘I finished work so I came back to get it. Are you all right?’

‘Yes, yes, perfectly all right.’

‘I didn’t meant to scare you.’

‘No, no. Don’t be ridiculous. This is your apartment. I was just startled.’

‘You look flushed. Are you on your inhibitors? Do you need me to get you some emergency suppressants in case you’re entering your heat?’

‘No, no,’ Cloud said. All the saliva in his mouth seemed to have dried up. How could he admit the truth? That he had been jerking off at the thought of this beautiful alpha in front of him? That he had such a realistic dream was almost embarrassing. He felt like a horny teenager again with wet dreams that felt too real.

Then Sephiroth held up a hand to Cloud’s cheek, and it was so eerily reminiscent of what had happened in his dream Cloud had to fight not to flinch.

‘I was just … it’s just a little warm,’ Cloud said. ‘Nothing a little water won’t fix.’

‘Right,’ Sephiroth said. There was an awkward pause between them as Cloud watched Sephiroth weighing up what he should say next. ‘I … heard you calling my name.’

Cloud flushed red, and the tips of his ears were so warm. He was quite certain that he looked like a lobster with yellow hair right about now.

‘Um …’ Cloud trailed off. ‘Sorry about that,’ he squeaked in such a small voice he wondered for a moment if Sephiroth heard him.

‘Don’t be sorry,’ Sephiroth said. And that was when Cloud noticed that the man’s pupils were dilated and his gaze fully trained on Cloud. Even though he was polite about it, the man’s nostrils were discreetly sniffing in the air.

He must have been smelling his pheromones, Cloud thought. In response to this, Cloud began to smell something in the air. The sweet woodiness of oak permeated the thickened air between them, mingling with his own scent of lavender and vanilla. It was sweetly noxious, and Cloud could barely breathe.

He pressed his cheek against the warm palm, felt a stirring in the depths of his belly, an indescribable magnetic pull of desire that had his body reacting, slicking him up in anticipation. He was so startled by this that he took a step back, broke contact.

He hadn’t been turned on like this since a very long time ago. The fourth of never, to be exact. When he had been a young omega, his fantasies had been sweetly innocent as he dreamt of being made love to in a graceful, languid way with a saxophone playing in the background. Then he had gotten a taste of reality when he’d signed himself into servitude, and that had been the end of it.

It was difficult to be truly turned on with clients who treated him like a pound of flesh, a hunk of meat in of which they had paid for with money. It made things considerably less romantic. Of course, that didn’t meant he wasn’t capable to feeling lust, and release.

And he certainly wasn’t afraid to admit that he was a little frightened by the unfamiliarity of it all.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said again.

‘Don’t be,’ Sephiroth whispered.

‘I want this, I really do,’ Cloud said, and stepped forward again. Feeling almost remorse, he clasped his hands over Sephiroth’s palm and brought it to graze his cheek. Nuzzled against it, in honest affection, in reassurance. ‘But I—’

‘You don’t have to explain it,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I understand. I can wait.’ He pressed a chaste kiss against Cloud’s temple, and Cloud felt like he had regained some degree of equilibrium. ‘But perhaps if I may make a suggestion?’

‘Of course,’ Cloud said.

‘Sometimes when I have … pent-up energy, I find it useful to work it off with exercise.’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said. ‘Er … what kind of exercise?’

‘The running kind. Or the swimming kind. I could show you a few different ones at a private gym near here, if you wish?’

‘Yes, I would like that,’ Cloud said.

‘If you have nothing scheduled for tomorrow, I can send a car over in the morning. Eight, shall we say?’

‘All right,’ Cloud said. ‘Don’t you have work?’

‘It’s the weekend,’ Sephiroth said gently.

‘Oh, right,’ Cloud said.

Sephiroth extended a hand. ‘Walk me out?’

‘Of course,’ Cloud said, and took the man’s hand gratefully. It was hard not to feel wrong-footed and awkward in the man’s presence, considering the depth and breadth of the attraction between the both of them. Invisible as it was solid, real as it was undeniable, Cloud realized he had never wanted a man so much until now.

And not just any man either. This man.

But Sephiroth was right. He wanted Cloud to be able to separate feelings of gratitude from true desire. Cloud genuinely felt that the man was asking him to consider sharing a life together – it was not unnatural for an alpha and omega to be bonded together for the rest of their lives, and yet his own experience had taught him that alphas and omegas were not created equal.

He couldn’t deny he had trust issues from being used as a whore for so long that he seemed to have forgotten his own identity outside of it. And he wanted very much to be that person before all the whoring he had to do for work. He wanted to see Sephiroth as a man, a potential lover and husband, and look past the knowledge that he was also Cloud’s benefactor.

He was sure that Sephiroth knew this, but apparently he wasn’t the only one.

During lunch earlier that day, Dr. Hewley had gotten to the restaurant the same time Cloud had. They had taken their seats, and Angeal had regaled Cloud with tales about the inseparable duo of Sephiroth and Genesis. Apparently they had all gone to university together.

Cloud had just finished laughing at one of the tales when Angeal’s phone pinged. He checked it, and smiled broadly at Cloud. ‘Good news, Cloud. Your bloodwork and medical check all came back clean. How are you feeling, by the way?’

‘Great,’ Cloud said. ‘Still adjusting to this strange new life, truth be told. Sometimes I wake up and wonder if I’m just dreaming. Wouldn’t it be just the way?’ He said it with a wry smile, but something inside his heart clenched at just the thought of it.

‘These are all very normal responses to change,’ Angeal said. ‘As your doctor and friend, I will recommend that you start seeing a psychologist, Cloud. Therapy can do wonders, even if you’re not in for anything else but someone to talk to in safe space.’

‘A psychologist?’ Cloud said a little doubtfully.

‘This is no suggestion that you’re in need of it, of course. But you have a lot of information to sort through and sometimes it’s healthy to talk about your experiences in the past. And even if you don’t, a trained professional can help you sift through your thoughts, help you through the process of deciding on a career. You don’t have to do it if you’re not comfortable, of course, but do have a think about it.’

‘I will,’ Cloud promised.

‘When you’re ready, I can refer you to a couple of good ones,’ Angeal said. ‘You can talk about anything you wish with them. Your thoughts about your future, your past, your love life, your career … anything, really.’

‘Love life?’ Cloud laughed. ‘I don’t really have one.’

‘Oh … really?’ Angeal’s face conveyed genuine surprise. ‘I thought … you and— uh … never mind.’

‘Sephiroth?’ Cloud said wryly. ‘Um … as much as I’d like there to be something between us, I feel like I’m not quite ready yet. Or maybe it’s him who’s not ready. I don’t know.’

‘I understand more than you think,’ Angeal said. ‘By all means, I think it’s a great idea for the both of you to take your time. Let me know if he’s being a jerk to you. I’ll sort him out.’

Cloud laughed just as Genesis and Sephiroth arrived.

After that lovely little lunch, Sephiroth had pressed a kiss on the back of Cloud’s hand. It had been wholly unexpected, and there had been a little flutter under his breastbone when it had happened. He looked up into those piercing green eyes, and felt a squeeze of emotion.

What was it? Cloud was as scared as he was excited to find out.

He had set on his merry way, and he was barely a block away when a tall skinny redhead saluted him. ‘Yo, Spikes.’

‘Oh. Um, are you talking to me?’

‘Well, do I look like the type to talk to a wall?’ the man asked, and his grin was so roguish that Cloud had to smile at it.

‘Hello,’ Cloud said cautiously.

‘Call me Reno,’ the man said, handing over one of his business cards. ‘I’m one of Sephiroth’s subordinates. General Affairs Division, Shinra Corp. We handle everything – you know, from acquisitions to photocopying, depending on the boss’s mood, you know how it is,’ Reno winked. He was a fast talker, in an insouciant, charming way.

‘Hi, Reno,’ Cloud smiled. ‘How may I help you?’

‘I was hoping to help you instead,’ Reno said. ‘The boss has asked me to keep an eye on you, but I get bored easily. You familiar with these streets at all? ‘Cos I know this swanky town like the back of my hand. Could take you to some places where they do great discounts for good quality stuff. What are you in the market for?’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said. ‘Why would you need to keep an eye on me?’

‘Protection,’ Reno said easily. ‘He wants you safe.’

‘Right.’

‘So what are you looking for today?’ 

‘Maybe a winter jacket. Some winter clothes maybe? Mostly sightseeing. I’ve never seen this sector before.’

Reno snapped his fingers. ‘Then you’re in for a treat. I got just the place for some nice threads, and you’re going to love it. Then we’re going to hit up this awesome sweet bagel-doughnut place that’s going to blow your mind. You ever hear of dogels?’

‘No,’ Cloud said. ‘But it sounds terrible.’

‘Which makes it so tremendously delicious in the first place,’ Reno said. ‘Come on kid, I got you.’

It had been easy enough to follow the man’s lead. And true enough, he had scored some decent clothes for himself – a nice, navy wool coat, and some heavy knit sweaters. The dougels were also horrendous as they were awesome, and he had a blast. Reno had made sure to escort him all the way to the entrance of the apartment before saying goodbye.

All in all, he had a great day. It was really too bad it ended with a solitary wank in an empty bed, and how embarrassing it had been to run into the man of his fantasies too. He quickly bade goodbye to Sephiroth, and closed the door behind him. He could barely look at him in the eye.

Cloud sank down to his ass with his back against the door. Even if there was any shred of doubt in his mind, there was none now, not after tonight. He knew he wanted Sephiroth as much as the man had wanted him.

The question now was whether he was ready to make a move.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will apologize for the fake-out smut in the beginning. 
> 
> But. 
> 
> I. 
> 
> Regret. 
> 
> Nothing!!!!!! 
> 
> *cries pathetically at poor decision to write plot over smut*


	11. Chapter 11

The next morning, he was ready and waiting before the car had even arrived.

He stood there eagerly in the lobby of the apartment building, with a bag in hand. It was the same bag he had brought with him in the first place, but instead of his entire life packed into that bag, now he had thoughtfully repacked it with things that he wouldn’t need but thought he would use anyway.

And then he waited eagerly.

The car arrived exactly on time at seven thirty in the morning, and the chauffeur politely escorted Cloud into the car. He told himself to sit back and enjoy the ride.

He rarely ridden in luxury cars in the past, let alone in the back like he was some kind of important person. And all on his own too. Whether he was doing so unknowingly or not, Sephiroth was rapidly opening up Cloud’s world.

It was … kind of lovely.

When the car pulled up to the gates that led into an enormous estate, Cloud’s mouth dropped open. ‘Sir?’ he asked. ‘Er … I thought I was going to a gym? Where exactly are we?’

‘This is Master Sephiroth’s home, sir,’ the chauffeur said.

His home? Cloud was momentarily confused. Perhaps Sephiroth had meant to meet at his home before they set out together? It was perfectly reasonable.

Even as Cloud stood at the entrance, he felt like he was in a state of shock, having been thrust into a world that he had never known before. Sephiroth’s downtown apartment was one thing, this mansion was quite another.

It seemed to him the very definition of excess the way it vaguely resembled a modern palace. Cloud counted four floors, floor-to-ceiling glazed windows. The manicured hedges and garden to his left, the generous patio on the right meant for entertaining.

At the door, he was greeted by an actual butler, who showed him into the living room. It wasn’t as much as a room as it was a massive space that reminded him of Sephiroth’s downtown apartment. The lavish wall hangings, the modern but clearly expensive furniture. But on the other hand, while it was also spotless, there was a sort of lived-in feeling about it. There was as discarded coloring book peeking out from under the couch, matchbox cars in the corner near the giant floor vase.

In the far side of the cavernous room, there was what looked like a beautifully designed kitchen for someone who genuinely enjoyed cooking. There was a half glass of orange juice on the breakfast counter.

The butler asked him to take a seat at the couch and offered him refreshments. Cloud politely declined and sat down to wait. But even then, his head swiveled around to appreciate the brilliant morning sunlight streaming in through the windows.

He goggled. There was an entire valley outside of those windows that faced the backyard. And by backyard, he meant an entire acreage of land where there was nothing but trees, well-trimmed bushes, a swimming pool and a tennis court.

Cloud got to his feet, pressed himself up against the glass.

‘Who are you?’

Cloud turned around to see a little boy standing in the hallway between the living room and kitchen, the glass of orange juice in his hand. He was around the age of five or six maybe, and judging by that cool, assessing gaze, that silvery hair … there was little doubt as to his parentage.

‘Hello. I’m Cloud. I’m … your father’s friend.’

The little boy narrowed his gaze. ‘My father doesn’t have friends. He has submarines,’ the boy said.

‘Sub … marines?’ Cloud asked, puzzled.

‘Submarines,’ the boy said. ‘Don’t you know what they are? People who work for him.’

A little chuckle escaped him. ‘I think you mean subordinates,’ Cloud said. ‘May I ask your name?’

‘No,’ the boy said. ‘You’re a stranger. I’m not supposed to give my name to a stranger.’

‘Well … I guess you’re right. But I’m not really a stranger if your dad’s invited me to his house, I think.’ Cloud smiled anyway. ‘But that’s all right. It’s really nice to meet you.’

The boy looked like he wanted to say something, but instead, he gave Cloud a curious look and began scurrying away. He would have succeeded, except that he ran straight into his father. The kid practically bounced off the man, but recovered rather agilely.

‘Do mind your manners, Yazoo,’ Sephiroth said coolly. ‘You know the rule with drinking glasses. Where do they belong?’

‘In the kitchen,’ Yazoo muttered. ‘Not the bedroom. Last week Loz took a bowl of cereal—’

‘I’m not talking about Loz,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Now either drink it in the kitchen or put it back.’

Yazoo walked to the kitchen, pulled himself up onto the tall barstool. All the while eyeing Cloud with suspicious looks.

Sephiroth shook his head slightly, then crossed the living room.

‘Good morning,’ Sephiroth’s buttery, deep voice said.

Cloud smiled. ‘Your home … it’s beautiful. It’s … it’s the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my life,’ Cloud said. ‘Thank you for inviting me here.’

‘It’s my pleasure,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Apologies for making you wait. There was a call from the colleague that I had to take.’

‘Oh, that’s fine. I was quite all right,’ Cloud said.

‘Shall we?’ Sephiroth said, and led the way to the gym.

Cloud didn’t know where to look. The man was wearing a very form-fitting t-shirt over exercise tights, and the clinginess of the fabric accentuated every curve of his impressive musculature. So instead he paid attention to what was Sephiroth’s home gym located just outside of the house, a short two-minute walk away to a separate building.

Forget about the idea of it being a simple set up – it was fully fitted out and could rival any commercial establishment. There were equipment and machines that he recognized, but for the most part he didn’t. They were impressive hunks of shiny steel and plastic, contraptions he never once thought about going near.

‘Wow. This is … quite elaborate,’ Cloud said.

‘I use the gym in the mornings,’ Sephiroth explained. ‘My home is located in a gated estate, and there are a few more houses in this estate as well. They are my neighbors, and we share this gym.’

‘I see,’ Cloud said. He had seen a few houses nearby within walking distance. Some modest, some elaborate, but nothing as opulent as Sephiroth’s. Sephiroth had pointed out one modern, architectural-looking house a short distance away, with a red convertible parked in the front. ‘That’s Genesis’s house, by the way.’

‘I didn’t know you lived so close to each other,’ Cloud said, alternately surprised and impressed.

‘It’s … convenient that way. Over there, that little cottage? The boys’ nanny lives there.’ What Sephiroth called a ‘cottage’ was easily a four bedroom villa. It was close, within walking distance, but far enough, past the tennis courts and manicured gardens that it provided enough privacy for all the houses located on this giant estate.

He could make out a young couple playing tennis on the courts. The lady had a powerful backhand – enough to make her male counterpart run back and forth across the court.

Sephiroth seemed to understand Cloud’s hesitations with using some of the more sophisticated equipment. They started out nice and easy with a brisk walk on the treadmills. And when Cloud was a little more confident, Sephiroth upped the speed.

At the end of the speedy jog, Cloud was huffing and puffing, feeling his heart rate go up as well as his embarrassment levels for being so terribly unfit. He wasn’t surprised, though. He might still have been young but he was nowhere near fit and healthy enough.

After all, his previous job as a whore meant odder hours – from seven in the evening until the early hours of the morning, and on very draining days, closer to dawn. Then he’d collapse into a coma-like sleep once work ended and he had finally managed to clean himself up. He’d wake up at noon, have breakfast and lunch rolled into one. They got a total of four hours of free time to themselves before they had to prep for the night shift again.

And during those hours where his fellow whores would go shopping or playing or exercising, all Cloud did was hide in his room. Sometimes he read, sometimes he went for a walk. But most of the time, he sat there wishing night wouldn’t come. And when it did, he’d console himself by crossing out yet another day on his calendar.

Sephiroth moved him next to the rowing machine, and Cloud was about one minute into his anemic rowing when Sephiroth’s mobile rang. He looked at the Caller ID. ‘Excuse me, Cloud, I have to take this.’

‘No, go ahead,’ Cloud said.

The moment Sephiroth exited the gym, Cloud immediately stopped rowing and gasped for breath. He had been doing his best to maintain the façade that he wasn’t at the risk of an immediate death by exercise. All he could do now was try to catch his breath.

By the time Sephiroth came back in, Cloud’s heart rate had dropped from heart attack range to merely dramatically elevated.

‘Hey,’ Cloud said.

‘I’m afraid I have a favor to ask of you. This is completely unscheduled, so if you’re busy later feel free to say no.’

‘Yes?’

‘There is someone I’d like to introduce to you to,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I’ve asked him to come up to the house. His name is Reeve Tuesti, and he’s the head of the accounting department at Shinra Corp.’

‘Yes, of course,’ Cloud said politely, but Sephiroth must have heard the bafflement in his tone.

‘I’ve taken a look at your prior contract with the Butterfly House and I noted some … let’s say, discrepancies especially in the valuation of the land you owned in Nibelheim. I’ve asked him to take a look at them, especially the purchasing contract. He has a few questions to ask of you.’

‘Oh, all right,’ Cloud said. His voice was casual, but there was a thread of concern underneath that he did his best to quash. What was Sephiroth looking into his contract for? What was possibly the point? The past was in the past, and he’d like it to firmly stay there.

Throughout the rest of the workout he only paid it half a mind. Then it was over, and he was dying, and Sephiroth proposed a swim in his pool. The weather might be cooling down, but today it was a nice and warm day, perfect for a morning dip.

Cloud changed into swimming trunks and headed out to the pool. Sephiroth wasn’t there yet, but someone else was.

A big, tall man with impressively spiky hair turned to wave at him. ‘Hi, Cloud. My name is Zack. Zack Fair. Nice to meet you.’ His grin was so bright and cheerful it was almost blinding. Cloud realized he had been the man playing tennis with his female companion.

‘Lovely to meet you,’ Cloud said. He was just about to ask him who he was when a kid came bounding up to Zack. He was a stockier version of his brother, and he launched himself straight at Zack.

‘Zack, play with me!’ he hollered.

Zack sighed. ‘Come on, little man. I just did a whole workout and I’m tired.’ He gestured to Loz. ‘By the way, this is Loz. The middle child. As you can clearly tell.’

Loz gripped his arm and lifted his legs clear off the ground, wholly dependent, and wholly trusting on Zack to keep him safe. He stared curiously at Cloud.

‘Who are you?’ he asked.

‘His name is Cloud,’ Zack said. ‘Now get off me, you mannerless lump. I’m sweaty.’

‘You said you would play water guns with us!’ Loz whined.

‘I did, but that was before I whooped Aerith’s butt at tennis. Now I’m tired, and I need a break.’

There was a peal of sparkling laughter that echoed through the air as a brown-haired young woman in a high ponytail joined them by the poolside patio.

‘You’ve been telling your tall tales again, Fair?’ Aerith said. She turned to Cloud. ‘I’m Aerith by the way. Nice to meet you, Cloud. I’m the boys’ nanny.’

How come everyone, save the children, already knew his name before he had introduced himself? What had Sephiroth been saying about him? But he was too polite to ask.

‘Come on, Zack!’ Loz whined again. Zack flipped him around before setting him down on his feet, eliciting a sharp squeal out of the little boy.

‘No. Go away. I want my breakfast.’

‘Why? You’re afraid you’re gonna lose, Fair?’ Aerith smiled, then took out a small plastic pistol behind her back and squirted him in the eye with a generous stream of water.

‘Hey!’

Loz dropped onto the ground, laughed like it was the most hilarious thing on earth. ‘I want a turn, Aerith!’

Aerith moved the pistol out of Loz’s reach. ‘Uh-uh. Go get your own. This is mine.’

Loz ran screaming back into the direction of the house. ‘Kadaj! Yazoo! Water gun time! We’re gonna get Uncle Zack!’

‘That’s my cue to disappear,’ Zack said. ‘I’ll see you around, Cloudy!’

‘Good to meet you, Cloud!’ Aerith, and she took off after Zack, who had disappeared into the house.

This was an insanely lively house, Cloud thought to himself. He felt almost overwhelmed. In a way, he felt like the stately, stoic owner of the house was a mismatch to his home. Here it was loud and filled with people and full of life. It opened up a whole different aspect of Sephiroth’s identity to him. Here he wasn’t the mysterious alpha full of smoky cologne and heady pheromones in his elegant downtown apartment.

Here, he was a father. A man with friends living so close by they must as well be family. Where everyone seemed to feel safe and happy.

It felt … exciting.

Another child ran outside, and his sharp gaze honed onto Cloud. This was the third of the trio, Cloud assumed. But while Yazoo had been tentative and Loz curious, this one was completely confident, bordering on brash. Clearly, he was the leader of the bunch.

‘Who the hell are you?’

‘I’m Cloud,’ he said. ‘And you are?’

‘None of your business, that’s what,’ Kadaj said, a put-on swagger in his tone. He had clearly learned it from somewhere.

‘It’s only polite that you introduce yourself as well, especially if you’re asking me for my name,’ Cloud said.

‘I don’t understand why you’re in my house.’

‘Your father invited me here,’ Cloud said, and he saw how Kadaj’s nostrils flared. Someone was clearly very protective of his father.

‘My father doesn’t have friends. I don’t like you.’

‘Kadaj!’ It was the first time Cloud had ever heard Sephiroth’s scandalized voice as he came out of the house. There was a tinge of embarrassment in there, and Cloud wanted to laugh. He had never seen this side of Sephiroth before – the hapless, embarrassed parent who didn’t have a complete handle on his kid. ‘Apologize immediately!’

‘Sorry,’ Kadaj said, but clearly meant none of it.

Cloud faced Kadaj squarely, crossed his arms, cocked his hip. ‘Why don’t you like me?’

Kadaj might have been brash, but he wasn’t stupid. ‘Because you’re a stranger!’

‘I’m only a stranger because this is the first time you’ve met me,’ Cloud said. ‘You don’t have to be friendly if you don’t feel comfortable, but I think you have to at least be civil.’

‘I don’t have to be sibel!’ Kadaj said, then decided to cut his losses and ran away.

Sephiroth stared after his fleeing son, and Cloud smiled sheepishly. Sephiroth turned to Cloud, embarrassment written all over his face. ‘I am terribly sorry for that.’

‘Please don’t be,’ Cloud said. ‘He’s just being prickly.’

‘Whatever for?’

‘Maybe if he feels that his territory is being invaded ...? Your children are very curious about the fact that you brought home a guest. I’m guessing they’re not used to it?’ Cloud asked. ‘I can take my leave, if you wish.’

‘No, don’t,’ Sephiroth said, then put a hand on Cloud’s forearm. Gripped it firmly. ‘No. Stay. I’m afraid I have to apologize for throwing you into the deep end.’

A tiny smile tugged at the corner of Cloud’s lips. ‘I think it was a little bit intentional on your part.’

Sephiroth sighed. ‘In a way, yes. I wasn’t expecting them to react so strongly towards you.’

‘They think I’m here to take you away,’ Cloud said, smiling. ‘It’s all right. They love you very much.’

Sephiroth sighed again. ‘I take it you have also met Zack?’

‘Yes.’

‘Zack is a subordinate of mine at Shinra Corp. He’ll drop in every now and then to check on you, if that’s all right with you.’

Cloud blinked. Two bodyguards? Reno and Zack? ‘Right. For protection?’

Sephiroth seemed relieved that Cloud arrived at the understanding so quickly. ‘I have many enemies, Cloud. I’m sure you understand as a man in my position I’ve accumulated many enemies. And if you choose to pursue a relationship with me I strongly feel that this should factor into your consideration.’

Cloud looked out at the sparkling waters of the pool. ‘I’m afraid of many things. Seeing my mother suffer. Going back to the Butterfly House again. Going to bed and sometimes waking up having forgotten that you’ve changed it all for me,’ Cloud admitted quietly. ‘But being with you is not something I’m afraid of, Sephiroth. You’ve been … so kind to me.’

‘I don’t want your gratitude,’ Sephiroth said.

‘But you have it, whether you like it or not,’ Cloud said. ‘Your kindness is what drew us together in the first place. But there’s more that I feel for you, and I’m afraid it’s growing.’

‘Don’t be afraid,’ Sephiroth said, and bridged the last of the space between them. Heedless of whether they were being watched or not, Cloud tipped his head back, met Sephiroth’s mouth under the bright morning sun.

It was a light kiss, nothing more. But there was a hunger in the both of them that was unleashed when their lips met. Cloud’s fingers found purchase in the man’s broad shoulders, pulled him in further. He felt the warm tongue that invaded his mouth, and he opened up for more. He felt his entire body arching up to meet the man’s.

He wanted more.

Then there was a loud crash from somewhere near them, and they broke apart. From the second floor, Kadaj’s little outraged face was staring at them. And at their feet, a plastic gun that he had hurled from the window. ‘You guys can’t do that!’ he yelled. ‘That’s what yucky married people do! And you’re not married!’ Then he slammed the window shut.

Sephiroth growled.

Cloud chuckled a little bit.

Sephiroth pushed back his hair, frustration etched in every single bone in his body. Cloud only held his hand, hoped it was some consolation.

Clearly, it wasn’t when Sephiroth turned to him. ‘Would you like to stay the night?’

The implication of that did not escape Cloud.

‘Yes,’ he breathed out. ‘I would love to.’

Sephiroth turned away, but not before Cloud caught that tiny, satisfied smile that quirked his lips.

‘I feel like we’re moving very quickly,’ Cloud said.

‘At light-speed, I believe,’ Sephiroth answered. 

‘Your kids won’t like it at all,’ Cloud said.

‘Screw the kids,’ Sephiroth said, his voice rough with desire. ‘I’m going to bundle them into Zack and Aerith’s cottage tonight. They can have a sleepover for all I care.’

Cloud threw his head back and laughed.


	12. Chapter 12

‘Cloud, this is Reeve Tuesti,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Head of accounting at Shinra.’

Reeve was a handsome man, with a charming smile. But his eyes were all business, Cloud could tell. He shook his hand tentatively, and they sat down on the couch. Sephiroth had taken them into a little drawing room on the third floor of his house.

‘Would you like me to stay?’ he had asked politely.

‘Of course,’ Cloud said, tugged on Sephiroth’s hand. There was nothing with regards to his contract that he didn’t know anyway. It was quiet here, and Sephiroth closed the door behind them.

Reeve sat down, and to Cloud’s relief, he didn’t beat about the bush. ‘Cloud, I’ve found some discrepancies in your contract. More specifically, the transaction regarding the sale of your land you owned in Nibelheim.’

‘Right.’

‘Who handled the sale of your home and land?’

Cloud thought back carefully. ‘I worked with a real estate agency recommended by the Butterfly Group. I guess I should have gone to an outside agency, but I couldn’t even leave Midgar at that time. The debts were mounting, and the interest was accumulating every day that I didn’t settle it …’

It had been a terrible time. His mother had passed, and he had received the final notice for repayment in the mail from the debt collection agency and they were reducing his hours at his job as a deliveryman. With no savings, no assets, no rich relatives, Cloud found himself at a dead end. 

The Butterfly Group had invited him for a chat to discuss his repayment options. When the discussion was over, he realized that he hadn’t had any options after all and had allowed the Butterfly Group to help him consolidate his assets and accept employment in lieu of repayment.

Reeve eyed him carefully. ‘I’m sorry about your circumstances back then. Now, it’s come to light that your land was sold for half its value.’

Cloud jerked upright. ‘What?’

‘The full value of the land would have repaid your debt and the subsequent interest,’ Reeve said. ‘If you give me the go-ahead, I can begin the process of seeking reparations.’

‘Reparations?’ Cloud said, then an involuntary laugh slipped out of him. ‘What do you mean? Like, they could pay me back?’

‘Yes,’ Reeve said. ‘For the original value of your land, and for your services rendered at the Butterfly House the last two years.’

‘How?’

Sephiroth spoke. ‘We can sue for damages,’ he said. ‘We can reach a private settlement with them. Whatever you’re comfortable with, Cloud.’

Cloud frowned. Why was Sephiroth suggesting that he sue the organization Sephiroth was part of? ‘Doesn’t Shinra Corporation own the Butterfly Group?’

‘Yes, but functions as its own entity. It’s a separate subsidiary. We can use the legal court system to seek damages, or if you prefer, to come to a settlement,’ Reeve said.

‘I … don’t know,’ Cloud said hesitantly. ‘I’m not really sure what to do.’

‘I know this news must come as a shock to you, but Sephiroth has advised me speak plainly and honestly. You will need some time to digest the information, I’m sure. But if you have any questions, Sephiroth or I can answer them for you. He can probably do a little better than I can. After all, he graduated summa cum laude from the law faculty at Midgar University,’ Reeve said.

Cloud could barely concentrate, but he latched on that piece of information and held it so he could stay afloat. Once upon a time, he had made a delivery to the vaunted halls of the city’s most prestigious university. He had felt envy for a moment, then sadness the next. As much as he would love to have furthered his studies, he knew it was not in his destiny to do so. ‘Oh? Did you go there too, Reeve?’

‘Yes, but to the business and accounting faculty,’ he said. ‘I’m afraid I’m a numbers man through and through.’ Reeve took out his wallet, and pulled out a business card. ‘This is my mobile number so you can reach me directly. If you have any questions at all, I will do my best to answer them.’ 

‘Well, I have one now,’ Cloud said. ‘Um, are you basically saying that the land was undervalued and sold at a lower price? That I was … cheated out of my money?’

‘Yes, unfortunately,’ Reeve said. ‘But I’m quite confident we can get it back. They weren’t very meticulous when it came to document-keeping, and we have full access to their documents. I can’t speak as to the punitive damages if you choose to pursue it in court, of course. It’s all highly dependent on how sympathetic the judge is, but you can be sure that you will have access to excellent lawyers. But if you go after the original valuation and then you subtract the loan you took out, it will be a sizeable amount of money.’

‘Um … like what?’ Cloud asked.

‘We’re probably talking about nearly five or six hundred,’

‘Five hundred what?’ Cloud asked.

‘Five hundred or six hundred thousand Gil,’ Reeve said.

‘His debt has been repaid in full,’ Sephiroth said calmly.

‘All right, so if we take that out of the equation, then you should have one point five million, at least.’

‘Million—’ Cloud blink. ‘What? That makes no sense. The land we had … I mean, it was large, yes. But why is it worth so much?’

‘The land value in Nibelheim shot up astronomically when the reactor was built out there. That was about ten years before you came to Midgar. Were you not aware?’

‘My mother always told me to hold onto to the land, but she never really specified why. I never knew it meant anything. I thought at best that it was good for farmland.’

‘No, not since the economic boom took over. Nibelheim is now a thriving satellite city. If you ever go back for a visit, it might just surprise you,’ Reeve said.

‘I never knew,’ Cloud said.

‘You were young then,’ Sephiroth said. ‘You came to Midgar at twenty, twenty one?’

‘Twenty one,’ Cloud said. ‘I … had no idea at all. Now I feel so … stupid.’

‘You are the victim here,’ Reeve said firmly. ‘It has nothing to do with your intelligence and knowledge. The Butterfly Group set out to trick you, and they succeeded. It has no bearing on you.’

‘But why?’ Cloud asked. ‘Why would they … I don’t understand.’

Sephiroth eyed him carefully. ‘They had an agenda, most likely. There were two things that they wanted, Cloud. One was your land. The other was your status as an omega. You know they’re a dying breed nowadays. Every one out of ten thousand babies are born as omegas. Omega whores command a high price here in Midgar.’

It all came back to his useless omega body once again. Cloud sat back, stunned.

He didn’t know what to think.

All he could think about was that he had lost two years of his life because he hadn’t known better.

Cloud heaved back a breath and fought the nausea that rose inside of him.

‘Sorry, I need the bathroom.’

‘My bedroom,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Up the stairs, at the end of the hallway.’

‘Thank you,’ Cloud said, and stood up, bolted.

He made his way into Sephiroth’s bedroom, but had no time to admire the luxurious surroundings. He slammed the door closed, hovered over the toilet. He didn’t vomit, although he felt incredibly nauseous.

There was a knock at the bathroom door. Cloud froze.

‘Cloud,’ Sephiroth said.

‘Sorry, just one second here,’ he said, then relaxed. ‘I just need a second.’

He pressed his hands to his face.

In the end, he hadn’t thrown up. But he had dry-retched so hard he actually felt sick to the stomach. He rinsed his mouth and his face. Sighed. What was the point of getting so worked up? All of it was over anyway.

When he came out of the bathroom a whole twenty minutes later, Sephiroth was waiting for him. He had been working quietly on his tablet computer. Cloud sat down beside him.

‘Do you feel better?’ Sephiroth asked.

‘Somewhat,’ Cloud said. ‘Sorry I bolted. Um, is Reeve still there?’

‘I’ve sent him off,’ Sephiroth said. ‘He had other matters to attend to anyway.’

‘I didn’t mean to be so upset,’ Cloud said.

‘You have a right to be,’ Sephiroth answered.

He was a little troubled by how thrown he had been from all of the revelations presented to his face. But he had never really once suspected that his indentured servitude could have deliberate, engineered, rather than a bad stroke of luck and poor financial decisions.

‘What do you need?’ Sephiroth asked again, this time, he put down his tablet. His face was full of concern.

Cloud wondered what he had ever done in a previous life to deserve such kindness.

If there had been a silver lining from his work as a whore, perhaps this was it. Perhaps it was him.

‘Yes.’ Cloud nodded his head. ‘Yes, please.’

‘I’ll do whatever I can to help.’

‘You already have.’ Cloud cupped that sharp, strong jaw tenderly in his hand, bridged the distance between the both of them.

The kiss was decisive and forceful on his part, but to his surprise too Sephiroth followed the dance that Cloud led. He curled his arms around Sephiroth’s neck, pressed their bodies together until he was practically straddling the man’s lap while they were both seated at the edge of the bed.

It was hot and fierce, clumsy and passionate as they fought to familiarize themselves with each other in the shortest amount of time possible. Under the curve of his fingers, he felt the sharpness of the man’s jaw, the tautness of those muscular shoulders, the silk of his hair.

In return, he pushed his body right up against those unyielding curves, thrusting his ass downwards towards that growing hardness that brought at least a knowing smirk on his lips. Here, he was fully in his element. Here, he knew how to please a man, and especially one who wanted an omega.

The only difference was that he truly wanted this man. Wanted his own attraction reciprocated.

‘Are you sure—’ Sephiroth began, but Cloud didn’t let him finish, instead silencing him with a swift and punishing kiss to the lips. His tongue licked its way in, refusing to yield, sucking and teasing and biting until their lips felt tender, throbbed with heat.

‘I’m sure,’ Cloud whispered against his lips. ‘I’ve never been this sure in my life.’

‘I don’t—’

‘I want you. And not because you paid my debt, not because I feel gratitude. I want you fucking me as hard as you can, and I want you like an omega would want an alpha.’

Sephiroth groaned. ‘You’re going to be the death of me. Cloud, I want you to be ready. I don’t think I can stop halfway—’

‘I am ready. Now,’ Cloud commanded, startling the both of them with the forcefulness in his voice. Seeing as Sephiroth still hesitated, Cloud swept all of it away by pulling off his own shirt, helping Sephiroth out of his.

Cloud rubbed his ass against the man’s crotch, opened his legs wide in invitation.

It felt like it was exposing him at his core, and his insides throbbed achingly. He could feel his damp underwear as it soaked up the slick he was leaking. He felt those clever if unfamiliar fingers sliding between the layer of his pants and his underwear, slipping just underneath the bare skin of his hip.

His own breath was caught as the touch sent goose pimples through his entire body and he responded by grinding his hips downwards, feeling Sephiroth’s erection straining against the fabric and against his own ass. It felt so good on both ends that it tore a groan from the man holding him.

‘Goddamnit!’ Sephiroth said, his voice low and husky and bordering on frustration. He shifted so abruptly that Cloud was thrown onto the bed and those pants and underwear yanked down his hips towards his ankles, all the while pressing biting kisses to his body. ‘Your scent is driving me insane.’

Cloud kicked off the last of the fabric at his ankles, and spread his thighs. Exposing his scent to the air, loving the way wet slick had made its way down his thighs. The air filled with the sweetness of lavender and vanilla, and the thickness of oak wafting into his nose.

He felt like he was in a deep, woody forest. The aroma was in his nose, enveloping him, making him so light-headed all he could do was hold on. That deep place inside of him now keened, wailed to be invaded, to be touched.

Sephiroth began to shake. 

‘I can’t—’ He swallowed visibly. ‘I won’t be able to stop.’

Cloud watched the man’s pupils dilate until the green was almost black. It was both terrifying and gratifying to know he could inspire such lust in the man. He knew that Sephiroth was fighting a fierce battle with his own willpower, and he was on the losing end now that this omega had willingly offered himself up. ‘You don’t have to. I’m not afraid,’ he said.

He guided Sephiroth’s trembling fingers down the curve of his ass. From there, he needed no further instruction. Cloud closed his eyes, felt a calloused thumb fondle lightly at his entrance, before pressing a finger inside.

Cloud gasped.

Sephiroth knelt before him, pressed a kiss to that tender spot on his thigh. Then he pushed two fingers in. ‘So tight,’ he said. ‘It’s like you’re sucking me in.’

Those fingers gently explored inside of him, twisted and tickled. It was all very sweet and tender, until Sephiroth found that little nub inside of him that spend sparks flying through his receptors and to his brain until everything was fried. Then it slowly, but insistently rubbed at it until Cloud couldn’t even say his own name anymore, and could only cry out in incoherent pleasure.

That was the exact moment that he realized that he wasn’t in the hands of an ordinary red-blooded man, but an apex predator instead, one that was used to dominating and setting the pace. He had Cloud pinned to the bed, one hand on his chest, the other with its clever fingers destroying him from the inside. Cloud’s thighs were open and loose, his legs locked around the man’s shoulders. His own hands were desperately scrambling for purchase but finding only the silk duvets under him.

He held on, and submitted to the choppy waves of pleasure assaulting his body. In his own desperate writhing, he barely felt it as the third finger stretched him open. Then all of a sudden Sephiroth pulled back, and Cloud nearly cried.

But he watched, his own chest heaving as the man tore open a packet of silver foil and rolled a condom onto what Cloud realized was the man’s rather sizeable and intimidating looking cock. He knew that as a born omega he would be able to take it in, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t nervous about the possibility of all that pain that would come before the pleasure.

He took a deep breath as the man covered his body with his own, and Cloud sought his mouth. He needed more of the drugging sweetness that kept him light-headed and blissfully unafraid. He folded his arms around the man’s broad shoulders and braced himself.

Sephiroth slipped inside of him and it felt like he had always belonged there.

He filled every inch of space inside of Cloud, and that unbearable pressure in the pit of his stomach began to throb. Yes, it was a tight fit, but Cloud couldn’t deny the way that he also brushed up against Cloud’s secret place of pleasure and it sent shivers down his spine. His omega body expanded to fit perfectly around the man, and yet …

‘You’re so tight,’ Sephiroth said, between gritted teeth. They were hung in that state of suspension, between pain and pleasure, discomfort and ecstasy, frozen in that position until their bodies acclimatized.

Then Cloud shifted upwards and he nearly went blind. ‘Shit!’ Sephiroth swore, as that friction felt impossibly good, impossibly sweet.

Cloud let his own hands glide up and down Sephiroth’s arms, which were stiff like bands of steel. ‘I can take it,’ he said. Sephiroth pressed a kiss against the nape of his neck and shoulder, just below the leather choker he still wore. Then the man’s hands curled around Cloud’s wrists, locked them above his head.

‘You can move now,’ Cloud whispered.

Sephiroth never waited for a second invitation. He pulled out halfway, then thrusted back in.

Cloud screamed. 

He would have sobbed through the way their hips slammed together. The sounds of their skins slapping together would have covered it, but for some inexplicable reason he couldn’t even catch his breath. Pinned down and ravaged for everything he was worth, all Cloud could do was to lose himself in the sensations as those waves of pleasure rocked his body. He wasn’t sure who was taking or who was giving – but all he knew was that it didn’t quite matter.

Sephiroth hand was relentless on Cloud’s cock. Stroking with a firmness that demanded Cloud keep up with him, or die trying.

That pressure proved to be impossible to fight off, and the liquid pulls in his belly rocketed him towards the edge of release. He arched his body upwards in a bid to pull Sephiroth closer to him, and listened to the man’s sharp intake of breath as his muscles tightened once, before convulsing into the most glorious orgasm he had ever had in this life.

Still shaking, he held on as Sephiroth fucked him hard and relentlessly. His nerves, tingly and overexposed, were now dialed up to ten in its sensitivity. He could feel Sephiroth inside of him, carving his insides, forcing his body to memorize the shape of his massive cock.

Helplessly, bonelessly, he was dragged along the currents, forcing him into another explosion of stars behind the eyes as he splattered thick pearly ropes all over his own chest. Shameless clawing for every bit of pleasure like the omega he was until he was nothing but a receptacle with Sephiroth chasing that ecstasy for the both of them.

Cloud couldn’t do it anymore; but nothing in his own body responded to his brain. He could only hold on, light-headed and rapturous until Sephiroth finally pulled out, orgasmed with what he could best describe as a pained grunt.

Their chests heaved as they held onto each other.

Cloud closed his eyes, let himself drown in the aftershocks of their love-making.

Every throb and thrum of the pulsating pleasure inside his body screamed only one word, over and over again.

Safe. He was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for sticking with this fic so far despite the fact I've blue-balled you for so long.
> 
> Happy Halloween, I hope you enjoyed my version of trick-or-dicking. Stay safe, everyone.


	13. Chapter 13

With the leather choker in the way, Sephiroth couldn’t do what he wanted. So instead, he took his sweet time planting biting kisses on the slender nape of Cloud’s shoulder. The pale, flawless skin tasted warm and flowery under his teeth and tongue, flinching slightly in his grip. He scraped his teeth gently against the trembling flesh, waiting for it to still again and nipped at it the moment it did. Hard enough to incite a reaction, but not nearly enough to break skin. However, there was no doubt that it would leave a mark.

Underneath him, Cloud bucked his hips, and Sephiroth ended up deeper inside of him. That pulled simultaneous groans out of the both of them, and Sephiroth tightened his grip on Cloud’s hips even more to get him to stop. He wanted to draw this out; he wanted to enjoy every single moment of it and pray that it would never stop.

It had been a week since they consummated their relationship in Sephiroth’s bedroom. There had not been a single moment since then that Sephiroth had regretted it. In fact, he was downright anxious, almost champing at the bit in order to get to this sweet omega.

It was not an exaggeration to say that Cloud was the most irresistible human being he had ever met. He had the charm of a siren, the body of a young man in his prime, and somehow the nubile sexiness of a beautiful omega right on the cusp of his deflowering. Of course Sephiroth knew better, and he was certainly no romantic … but he couldn’t deny he was completely enamored.

He had somehow retained that sweetness and charm despite his bizarrely cruel experiences. Yes, he came shouldering cynicism and wariness as someone of his background had been trained to be, but he never had much of that when he was with Sephiroth.

He had never seen anyone who was so full of life and longing to make things better for himself. He was opening and accepting of Sephiroth, and since that day at his home, they hadn’t stopped fucking each other.

In fact, the intensity and the frequency of their couplings made him feel like they were animals in heat. He had even had his bloodwork done to check if he had been in rut even though it was well and truly suppressed by his daily medication. That desire to hold and to touch was that all-encompassing, and he could not get enough of this man. Not just any omega, but this specific one.

It was driving him insane.

He would have gladly skipped work in favor of remaining in bed with Cloud all day and night, planting possessive hickies all over that gorgeous skin, but his self-control and discipline reined him in. Besides, the last thing he needed was the president noticing some sort of anomaly when he wasn’t one to take sick days often.

But that itch remained under his skin. That lust, burning ever so steadily in his gut.

The moment he had completed his day’s work, he appeared at his downtown apartment. One look at that beautiful blue-eyed gaze, guileless and sexy at the same time, and Sephiroth was down for the count. He didn’t care where they were – on the floor, in the kitchen, in the bath, in the car, on the bed, up against the wall – the location was of no importance, only that insane need to get himself inside of Cloud, where it was moist and tight and warm.

Today was no different. He had entered the apartment, and was greeted by Cloud, who had some flour on his face. He had been attempting to make some kind of pie tonight. Sephiroth turned off the oven to Cloud’s mild outrage, and bent him over counter before pulling down his pants.

The omega keened his desires, and that cry wiped Sephiroth of all reason and rationale. He fucked into that tight hole, and kept going even as Cloud’s knees buckled into the dishwasher. His hands were wrapped around a tea towel, and the other was splayed against the stone counter.

‘Can’t,’ he screamed. Sephiroth knew that he was hitting Cloud’s prostate with every thrust, and it was easy from the angle of penetration. Cloud’s hips were high up in the air, his sexy little ass reddened slightly with Sephiroth’s rough treatment. ‘Please, I can’t!’

‘You can,’ Sephiroth said. ‘You can,’ he whispered again, and slammed into him. Cloud’s hands flailed uselessly, thumping against the counter but Sephiroth refused to let him go. He would take Cloud to the depths of ecstasy and back, regardless of his protests.

Slick was gliding down those thighs, infusing the smell of vanilla into the air, with the hint of lavender. Sephiroth had grown used to that smell, but he still couldn’t fight it. One sniff was enough to blind him, for his hips to keep snapping, pushing and pushing himself and Cloud until sexual release overtook the both of them.

It was like falling off a fucking cliff, every single time. Exhilaration and ecstasy as they died the most wonderful of deaths only to be reborn anew.

Sephiroth panted heavily, still lodged deep inside of Cloud. His own hair was slightly askew, falling into his face. He swept it away, still holding the limp body underneath him. Deep inside he pulsated, and then could feel his body’s instincts try to take over.

With a delayed jerk he pulled himself out, dripping indecently against that hot little ass and down his thighs. In his stupor he had nearly knotted Cloud when they had never expressly spoken about whether it was acceptable to do so. He had never gotten his close to losing control with anyone else before.

He stared down at himself. It wasn’t very good manners either, to fuck his partner without a condom. But then again, there he was, guilty and shameless about his lack of one.

He caught Cloud before he could fall onto the ground. His thighs were shaking with exertion.

Cloud’s weight fit comfortably inside his arms, and he leaned them both against the counter. ‘That was …’ He trailed off, as if he couldn’t find the right words for it.

‘A little insane,’ Sephiroth conceded. ‘I didn’t use a condom.’

‘That’s all right,’ Cloud said. ‘I’m on contraceptives anyway.’ Not to mention that the conception rate between omegas and alphas was falling so dramatically nowadays that a viable pregnancy would have been nothing short of a miracle.

‘No, not that,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I apologize for the mess.’

‘Oh,’ Cloud said, then looked down at himself. Copious amount of slick and semen were still making their way down his thighs. He flushed a little. ‘I should go clean up now.’

‘Let me help you,’ Sephiroth said.

‘That’s all right,’ he said.

Sephiroth wiped himself down cursorily in the doorway of the bathroom even as Cloud turned on the showerhead spray. As they waited a moment for the water to warm up, Sephiroth watched as Cloud brushed back his hair with his fingers.

‘I can’t stay long tonight,’ Sephiroth said, with real regret in his voice. Tonight was pizza night at his home, which meant the triplets would be waiting for him to get home to have dinner together. It was something they had done for a while and Sephiroth didn’t like missing it. After all, he only managed to join the dinner table once a week.

He knew it was going to be nothing short of annoying. Kadaj always complained about the toppings, how he hated the way the pepperonis were touching each other, while Loz would steal the pineapples off everyone’s pizza. Yazoo on the other hand didn’t like the cheese, and sometimes Sephiroth wondered if his son even understood the concept of a pizza.

But it was also the most wonderful thing he shared with his children and he didn’t want to skip pizza night, not even for the prospect for copious amounts of mind-blowing with an omega with a warm and tight body.

If only there was a way of combining his two worlds together.

He wanted to invite Cloud over to his home. He was sure Cloud would enjoy the pizza, and definitely the sex afterwards and perhaps the sleepover. But he knew his own children were unsure about Cloud, and judging by the rudeness they had displayed the last time he had visited, Sephiroth wanted to give them a little more time.

It was somewhat disconcerting to see Cloud being so easygoing and unfazed, despite the juvenile abuse he had copped, chalking the triplets’ attitudes towards the fact that they didn’t know how to share properly. He had them pegged at the first meeting itself, and Sephiroth thought there was potential here. It was good news in his mind, if he and Cloud ever progressed to becoming a family.

But he and Cloud had a discussion. They wouldn’t try to push him onto the triplets before Sephiroth and Cloud became anything official.

Problem was, there was really no time to discuss becoming anything official when they were just too busy fucking the brains out of each other each time they met. They hadn’t been any time for anything else at all.

‘I know, that’s fine,’ Cloud said good-naturedly. ‘It’s pizza night, right? You mentioned it yesterday. Besides, I was banking on having a quiet night in.’ He knew Cloud never expected anything. Never asked him for anything.

A part of Sephiroth wanted this omega to be spoiled, demanding. At least if he asked for something, Sephiroth could do his best to fulfil it. He had a lot of money that he didn’t often use, and it would have been nice to spoil Cloud.

The fact that Cloud never asked for a thing made Sephiroth want to do more for him.

Sephiroth followed him to the bathroom anyway. For a few quiet moments, he watched as Cloud made full use of the shower. He grabbed some soap from the dispenser, and in that instant Sephiroth was turned on, despite only having his fill of Cloud some fifteen minutes ago.

Because he knew exactly how Cloud would smell like – that fresh smell of peppermint soap clashing beautifully with the lavender and vanilla musk he seemed to always emanate.

Sephiroth knew all the spots too. Near the nape of his neck. Behind his head, just below the hairline. At the base of his wrist, just above his pulsing heartbeat. The insides of his elbows. The erotic juncture where his thighs met his hips. That little tuft of blond hair above his cock. Sephiroth’s nose was well trained to sniff out those spots, and that scent always got him.

He supposed it was his own alpha tendencies coming out. He’d always had a higher concentration of alpha pheromones, and required stronger doses of medication to keep his rut in check. His own self-discipline was also a means of control. He had been told from a very young age that he was a master of himself.

He had no interest in losing himself until now. There was just something so delectably irresistible about this specific blond omega that Sephiroth felt quite incumbent upon himself to bond with him. Of course, he would wait until Cloud was ready.

There was no doubt about it – he had found his mate. He’d suspected as much when he first found Cloud at the brothel and freed him from his servitude, but after he had a taste of the omega, it was all but over. Cloud was meant to be his, and no force on Gaia would be able to stop it.

Sephiroth stepped into the shower, startling Cloud. ‘Let me help you,’ he said.

Cloud raised a single blond eyebrow. ‘What kind of help?’ There was a knowing smile that hovered around his lips.

Sephiroth nuzzled his shoulder, gently bent him forward so that Cloud had his hands against the wall, but with the water spray directed at his lower back. Sephiroth increased the temp of the water, and then carefully, gently used his fingers to clean out his own come from inside his lover. He was thorough and meticulous, but halfway through, his felt Cloud’s muscles clench around his fingers.

‘Honestly darling, I don’t know if you’re cleaning me up or giving me a prostate massage,’ Cloud said, his beautiful blue gaze sparking with humor as he stared up at Sephiroth.

‘Very likely both,’ he said, honestly and shamelessly. He looked at the way Cloud was completely damp, on the surface of his skin and his tight little hole down there. Water droplets hung like diamonds on the tip of his slightly flattened blond tendrils, and how was it possible that he looked even lovelier than before?

Sephiroth bent his head down only to meet Cloud’s willing and parted lips.

Cloud twisted around, a slippery, sinewy little thing as he reached for Sephiroth’s neck, held on. Sephiroth hoisted him up, slamming him not-too-gently against the wall as he angled him for entry. He yanked up Cloud’s leg, and wasn’t surprised to see that this omega was as dexterous as he was flexible.

Cloud gasped as Sephiroth entered him, and they fit together like two puzzle pieces. Sephiroth thrusted into him, pulling out and pushing in even as Cloud did his best to brace his own weight, the relentless assault thrown upon him.

He loved hearing the breathless moans, the staccato gasps that he could draw out of the omega from just the way Sephiroth pushed pleasure into his body. It made him feel powerful, invincible. And conversely, like he was nothing but a submissive slave in the face of this glorious siren, this omega who had the power to bewitch his senses.

He rubbed his thumb over Cloud’s now tender and pink nipples until they were hard little pebbles, oversensitized to the point where any contact was enough to make him flinch. Captured that mouth so Sephiroth could swallow his moans, the pleasure he tried to give voice to. Sephiroth took it all, and received it gladly.

He loved the way Cloud’s gaze would glaze over just when he was the point of no-return. The way that compact little body tightened up around Sephiroth’s cock, the way his fingernails dug into Sephiroth’s flesh. The sharp jabs of pain grounded him, so he could bear witness to the way Cloud lost himself completely and gave over to the ultimate pleasure.

That incoherent, deep-throated moan just before his cock spurted all over the both of them, only to sluiced away by the spray of water still directed at their bodies.

Sephiroth wanted nothing more but to follow after Cloud, to join him in that bliss. As Cloud spasmed rhythmically around his cock, Sephiroth let go of the reins, held onto that precious omega in his arms, and came.


	14. Chapter 14

Cloud was exhausted.

His lover was a lot more thorough than he could have ever imagined, and had the stamina of a workhorse. He could go all night long pounding at Cloud, which was precisely what he did. Of course Cloud was no stranger to all night sex, but it had been a while since he had done it.

This had been the first time Sephiroth had stayed at the apartment overnight – previously he’d gone home, no matter the lateness of the hour. But tonight they seemed to have gotten a little carried away, beginning from the evening when Sephiroth had arrived in a dark mood.

He was calm, but silent. There was a tenseness in his shoulders that informed Cloud about that subtle sullenness that the man carried. He didn’t want to talk about it either.

So they sat down to the quiet meal of chicken soup that he had made from scratch, and a salad he had thrown together. Cloud tried to fill the silence by telling Sephiroth what he had been up to earlier in the day. He had gone for a short run at dawn, then come home to play his piano. He went out to the shops, got the groceries for the week, then set to making soup for dinner. While the soup was cooking, Zack popped in and they had enjoyed Cloud’s day-old blueberry muffins together.

He found himself genuinely enjoying Zack’s company. He was so wonderfully laid back and cool about it all, and he treated Cloud like he was a friend, and not someone he had been asked to keep an eye on.

It was nice to have a friend.

Cloud waited until dinner was done and cleared from the tables. The dishes had been loaded into the dishwasher, and Sephiroth made Cloud a gin and tonic, but something considerably stronger for himself – three fingers of the finest highland whiskey.

They sat together on the couch, with Sephiroth’s fingers circling distractedly on Cloud’s outstretched calf, that cold green gaze staring at nothing in particular. Cloud had the drink in his lap, and reading a book that Zack had recommended. It was a thriller about a detective and a murderer that she lived with, and it was riveting stuff.

He felt it was best to leave Sephiroth until he was ready. It was an instinct that proved to be solid, because Sephiroth seemed to have decided something. And once he was, his gaze switched over to Cloud.

Those long, graceful fingers clamped over the top of Cloud’s book, snapped it shut and flung it across the other armchair. ‘Hey,’ Cloud said mildly.

‘Page 143,’ Sephiroth said, then yanked Cloud into his lap.

Cloud lost his balance from the hard pull, and his grip on his drink. It tumbled out of his lap and bounced harmlessly onto the carpet, coming to a rolling stop after it had spilled the remainder of his gin and tonic.

‘My drink—’ Cloud said in dismay. ‘The carpet!’

‘Fuck the carpet,’ Sephiroth said brusquely. ‘I’ll buy another one.’

Despite the roughness of his words, his actions were only slightly rougher than usual as he wrestled Cloud onto his back amidst Cloud’s quiet chuckles.

He stroked his fingers gently against Sephiroth’s terse jaw. ‘What can I do to help make you feel better, darling?’

‘Stay with me tonight,’ Sephiroth said.

Cloud laughed a little. ‘I don’t think we should be worried about me leaving here, you know. Pretty sure I’m homeless.’

‘That’s not what I meant,’ Sephiroth said.

‘I know what you mean,’ Cloud said, and pressed gentle kisses to the side of the man’s unyielding mouth. ‘But you do realize, sir, that you’re the one who leaves me every single night. Not that I don’t understand. Your children are still young, you belong at their side. I understand that.’

Sephiroth groaned. ‘I never minded commuting, you know. Until I met you.’

Cloud fluttered his eyelashes. ‘Go on, tell me why.’

‘I hate leaving you here at night. Move in with me.’

‘Sephiroth,’ Cloud began with a longing and regretful sigh all wrapped in one breath.

‘I know,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Well, I’ll just have to work harder to convince you then.’ He dipped his head, lowered his mouth down to Cloud’s neck, where he nibbled gently against that patch of skin below his choker that was joined to his shoulder.

Cloud was well familiar with this by now. As much as he could, he turned his head slightly, offered up as much as his neck as he could give this alpha. As much as he wanted to remove the choker and let the man mark him for the rest of his life, he knew they both weren’t ready for it. The relationship was too new, and they still didn’t know each other as well as they should.

Just like Cloud wanted Sephiroth to bite down, just like Sephiroth wanted Cloud to move into his palatial home … their logical brains still cautioned them to be careful. A bond between alpha-omega, when done right, was for life. And right now, the large majority of time that they spent together, they still allowed the primitive instinct of mating with each other to take over and cloud their minds.

Sephiroth growled as he broke the kiss. ‘I have to leave for a work trip tomorrow afternoon.’

Cloud blinked as his mind did a one-eighty. ‘Oh. Um. OK.’ Was that what had been bothering the man? ‘How long would you be gone?’

‘Three days,’ Sephiroth said, and his gaze darkened.

‘Oh, it’s just three days,’ Cloud said, feeling like he was drenched with relief. He had thought the man would go for weeks, or worse, months, judging by his black mood. Then the part of his mind that controlled the lower half of his body groaned in misery. Who was he kidding? He was going to suffer through it, considering how often they fucked.

Three days without sex?

They would probably die.

‘When I’m away, I’d like you to stay home as much as possible. I’m not saying you’re in any danger, but knowing where you are located puts me at ease.’

‘I’ll try to,’ Cloud said.

‘Don’t open the door to any strangers.’

Cloud laughed. ‘I’m not a child, Sephiroth.’ He eyed Sephiroth carefully. ‘And I can’t go with you?’ It’s not like he did anything here anyway.

Sephiroth closed his eyes in disappointment, as if he had already considered and discarded this idea. ‘Unfortunately, no. This is a business trip, deep into Periculum Group territory. It wouldn’t be safe for you.’

Cloud’s heart seized. ‘It’s not safe?’

‘It’s my job,’ Sephiroth said, eyeing Cloud with a great deal of calm. ‘It’s just negotiations, Cloud. By the time I’m done with them it will be safer for the citizens of Midgar.’

Cloud didn’t want to know more. He was afraid if he knew more, he would worry more. He had to trust in Sephiroth, who was the most capable man he knew. ‘You need to be safe. Do your job, and come back to me. To your children.’

‘I have no intentions of doing otherwise,’ Sephiroth said. Then as if to silence all of Cloud’s unspoken worries, he swooped in, pressing an insistent kiss against those lips, leaving Cloud no choice but to reciprocate. He demanded more even as their bodies were pressed together so firmly that Cloud barely knew where one ended and the other began.

His lips were brutalized and tender, and those fingers that he adored so much flicked at the buttons of Cloud’s shirt, exposing his chest and abdomen to the air. A light graze of his fingertips against his sternum sent a shiver down his spine, and the tweak of his nipples forced a gasp from his lips.

Then the same clever fingers travelled downwards, slipped underneath his pants. Teased at Cloud’s now awakened shaft, circling it with his big hand and stroking up and down quite firmly. They loosened his slacks, eased it down his hips.

The mouth that smiled so rarely pressed a trail of kisses from Cloud’s already taut belly downwards, towards the base of his cock. His muscles were quivering from anticipation, familiar with the shape of their desires that it had learned over the last few weeks.

Then that warm demanding mouth clamped around Cloud, and Cloud bucked once. Sephiroth’s hand was on his thigh, gently spreading him apart so he could have easier access. Cloud closed his eyes, leaned back against the pillow.

The slow frissons of pleasure began pricking at the edge of his nerves, and then Sephiroth’s fingers rubbed gently against his wet hole, and that was it. He tried to lock his thighs, but Sephiroth’s hand kept him held down.

Cloud panicked, and opened his eyes. ‘I’m not coming over your leather couch, Sephiroth. Can we please move this upstairs?’

‘No,’ Sephiroth said obstinately, gliding longer fingers into Cloud’s opening, letting himself be swallowed up. He bent his mouth down to continued sucking Cloud’s cock, his fingers invading him just underneath. Cloud tried not to writhe, but his balls felt heavy and the pressure in his stomach was now becoming uncomfortably obvious now that he was closer to the edge than he thought.

He threaded his fingers into Sephiroth’s silk hair, held on. Resisted the urge to press him down, letting Sephiroth dictate the pace, which was both painfully torturous and slow, yet had him rushing to a crescendo he wasn’t completely prepared to meet.

All the muscles in his body tightened once, and the orgasm was ripped from him in a breathless, choking gasp. He pulsed still in Sephiroth’s mouth as the pressure forcefully milked everything from him.

He was wrecked, and it was barely nine in the evening.

He had demanding clients before, but rarely one that he couldn’t keep up with. Everything about Sephiroth was made to destroy Cloud – his willpower, his inhibitions, his reservations. He had the ability to fuck Cloud like it was the last time he was going to do it, going for nearly an hour while casually assaulting him from both the front and the back.

Many of his clients had a preference – either his mouth or his hole, sometimes his cock, but very rarely all three at the same time. Sephiroth had the magical ability to fuck him while playing with Cloud’s cock and kissing the living tar out of him.

Cloud lay like a limp noodle on the couch, limbs loose and his head pillowed against the cushions. He was already dozing. It had been a long day of not doing much at all, and that orgasm had left him destroyed.

He awoke to someone stroking his earlobe, the skin above his choker. He opened his eyes.

Sephiroth was sitting in front of him on the carpet. His tie had been loosened but not removed, and for once he had removed his steel grey waistcoat. Sleeves were rolled up, and that gorgeous waterfall of silver hair draped on one shoulder. ‘I’m not quite done with you,’ Sephiroth murmured.

Cloud reached out with his hand, tucked his finger underneath the knot of the man’s silver tie. Gently worked it open until it lay open, and Cloud easily slid the silk out from across his collar and dropped it on the carpet.

He let Sephiroth help him out of the clothes he still had on his body. He felt a debauched prince, having already come once when he had only been half naked. But he liked the way Sephiroth’s body felt against his naked skin, and he pulled the man up onto the couch before getting on top of him.

He was loose and wet and warm. He lowered himself gently downwards, impaling himself on the cock that stood proudly until he was fully seated. He loved the way Sephiroth’s eyes fired with lust, the way his muscles twitched that signaled that he wouldn’t be patient for too long. 

Every nerve of his roared to life, the last vestiges of sleepiness gone. He forgot his own fatigue, and it was just as well, because he knew Sephiroth wasn’t going to let him up until he had his fill.

So Cloud rode him, knees on either side, trying the ignore the sensations firing from his nerves from the way Sephiroth’s hands stroked up and down his fevered skin, teasing his nipples so gently before pinching him firmly.

He was glad they were in the apartment, with none of Sephiroth’s kids nearby, and Cloud could scream and shout his pleasure to his heart’s content. His hips snapped forward, refusing to let Sephiroth dictate the pace. But he knew he wanted it rough and hard, so Cloud did his best to do so, keeping his muscles taut and tight.

When he slowed down, he allowed Sephiroth to throw him down, twist him around so that he was pulled to his feet, his hips yanked up and thrusted into. Whatever punishing pace he set it was nothing compared to what Sephiroth could do.

Cloud simply melted in his hands. Came over and over again until he forgot his own name. Let Sephiroth wipe him down after the mess he made, drag him to the bedroom.

He was thrown on the bed, and barely caught a breath before Sephiroth pinned him down. Cloud wrapped his arms around Sephiroth’s neck, held him so hard he wondered if there was a way the two of them could become one being by sheer willpower alone.

They lost themselves in the primitive act of mating, that age-old dance of their bodies colliding and loving until midnight descended on them. Their love was interspersed by short periods of time where they’d pass out from sheer exhaustion, only to awake with a jerk.

With an indecent moan, he rolled to his knees, presented himself with his ass high up in the air. His thighs were shaking and he was so tired but the lower half of his body was screaming in desire and there was only one way to shut it up. He was loose and wet and all fucked out, but he still welcomed the way Sephiroth mounted him without hesitation, fucking him raw. They needed no words, only exchanged moans and grunts until they both came.

He finally collapsed into a heap, against the pillows. He vaguely felt a warm cloth wiping him up. ‘Go back to sleep,’ he said.

Cloud rolled over, and he felt Sephiroth pulling the covers over him. The dawn was just beginning to peek through the blinds. Then Sephiroth settled down next to him.

He heard a phone ring.

Sephiroth got up, grabbed his phone. ‘Sleep,’ he said, when Cloud lifted his head from the pillow.

He went out into the hallway, closed most of the door, leaving only a sliver of light. Cloud’s eyelashes fluttered as his ears strained to listen to the conversation.

‘I don’t feel good about going into their territory,’ Sephiroth was saying. ‘But at least the old man’s coming with us, so we know we’re not being set up.’ He listened to the conversation for a little while. ‘Keep a careful eye on all of them. The kids are first priority, but Cloud is a close second. I don’t want anything unforeseen to happen,’ Sephiroth warned.

He assumed he had been speaking to either Reno or Zack.

Cloud drowsily slipped back into sleep, briefly registering the arm that had curled around him when Sephiroth had finally deigned to come back to bed.

When morning arrived, Sephiroth was gone.

He had vaguely remembered the way he had pressed a tender kiss to his forehead before he slipped out of the bedroom.

Cloud opened his eyes, pulled up the covers to his chest. He felt a strange, deep loneliness descend as he touched the cold pillow across from him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So if you haven't realized, I have just given you three consecutive chapters full of smut. Why? Because you know what's coming. You do. 
> 
> Angst. Agony. Absolute unnecessary plot-devices that will hopefully piss you off as much as annoy the bejeezus out of you. 
> 
> Don't say I didn't warn you! 
> 
> As usual, if you're happy not to proceed any further, that's fine too. If you want to come along ... remember how I said at the beginning this story is on steroids? 
> 
> Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah.


	15. Chapter 15

Cloud had just finished practicing the piano for the day when the doorbell rang. Cautiously, he rose to his feet, feeling wariness overtake him.

Sephiroth had already asked him to stay home as much as possible, to stay safe. He intended to keep it that way, although he had to admit he was ignorant of the supposed dangers that concerned Sephiroth, although a part of him wondered if they would really go after him, considering that he was nothing official to Sephiroth. Not a spouse, not even a mistress. Just a lonely whore who was starting to develop feelings for the man who had saved him.

Not a whore, he reminded himself. That was his past, but he had been freed from that bondage. He was in the present, and the present was wonderful. A blossoming relationship, and some form of financial independence in the pipeline while he decided what he would do next.

Sephiroth had outright rejected Cloud’s offer to repay him. ‘No,’ he said. ‘I don’t need to be repaid. Consider it a gift, if you wish. Given freely and willingly. What you do with your own money when you receive it is up to you.’

Cloud looked at the monitor. ‘Hello?’

‘Yo, Cloudy!’ The redhead waved at him through the camera. ‘Reno here. Let me in, will ya?’

Cloud smiled briefly in relief, and undid the locks on his door. ‘Come on in. You’re just in time to join me for lunch.’

‘What’s for lunch today?’ Reno sauntered in, then flounced onto the leather couch. He draped his arm over the back, and put his feet up on the coffee table. Cloud narrowed his eyes at Reno, swatted him so he put his feet down.

‘Last night’s chicken and tomato stew,’ Cloud said.

Reno made a face. ‘Nah, not my thing.’ Cloud wasn’t surprised. The couple of times he had went out with Reno for lunch Reno had only touched two things both times – fries and soda. It was quite clear he was a picky eater. ‘You got any chips or something?’

Cloud looked in the pantry, threw Reno a bag of whole-wheat chips. Reno blanched at it, groaned dramatically, but opened it anyway.

‘I heard your boyfriend’s out of town,’ Reno said, crunching down on his chips noisily.

Boyfriend? Cloud wondered. What a simple word to describe the relationship he shared with Sephiroth. Yes, there were shades of gratitude and a tangled history that Cloud didn’t know about yet, that magnetic attraction between them and the potential it held. But there was also the unknown – he didn’t know enough about the man, and the shape of their future.

Cloud hoped that it would be together, but he knew better than anyone that there were no guarantees in life. You could try your hardest and things still didn’t work out.

‘Oh?’ Cloud asked.

‘Yeah. He’s only away for three days, tops, so don’t worry too much.’

‘I’m not worried,’ Cloud said, although that was a lie.

‘After all, he’s not a cheater. When he’s with one person, he sticks with them until he’s ready to move on.’

Cloud blinked. ‘Move on?’

‘Well, this isn’t going to last forever, _obviously_. You know. Because of his pattern.’

‘Pattern?’ Cloud found himself asking, although the moment he did, he regretted it. Did he really want to know?

‘He’s the most dazzling lover while he’s with you, fucking you like the world’s ending. Twice, three times a day. Anywhere, anytime he’s up for it. He’s a stallion. Then when he’s done with you, he’s done. No going back. No lasting commitment. None of that forever after shit.’

Cloud was right. He didn’t want to hear it.

‘He is quite legendary in that area. You don’t know this, but he doesn’t stick with one person for too long. Sometimes it lasts weeks, but at most months. The longest was the prima donna at the Midgar Ballet Company. Beautiful woman, straight blond hair all the way down to a fine, perky ass. Possibly one of the most beautiful women in the city.’

‘What happened to her?’

‘He fucked her passionately one night, and dumped her the next day. Said that he felt their relationship had come to a natural end. What a cold bastard, am I right?’ Reno crunched the chips, and tossed the bag onto the coffee table.

Cloud picked it up and sealed it, for the lack of anything better to do.

‘She was pissed, trust me. I mean, what man fucks a hot lady three times in one night and then talks about the ending of the relationship the next?’ Reno leaned back, tapped his remote. ‘But one has to admire him for that certain _je na sais quoi_ that he has.’

‘Right,’ Cloud said.

‘So you see, your boyfriend’s got quite the reputation as a lover. Don’t worry, though. If you don’t piss him off when he’s done with you, like acting all psycho and shit, you can stay friendly. But don’t hope for a second shot. Like I said, he has a long line into his pants and a long line out.’

Cloud paused, unease churning in his gut. ‘Why are you saying this?’

‘It’s the truth, you know. When push comes to shove, you’ll be done before you know it. But if you’re deluding yourself into thinking he might be forever, remove that thought from your mind right now. Even if he has good feelings for you, he won’t choose you. He doesn’t only have one reason, as you know. He has three reasons.’

Cloud stayed silent. Reno wasn’t lying. He was, in fact, speaking the truth. But why was he saying it?

‘There’s no shame in it,’ Reno said.

‘I’m not—he’s not—’ Cloud said, then tried to gather his thoughts.

‘You’ve known him for weeks. I’ve been working for him for years,’ Reno offered reasonably. ‘All I’m saying to you is that chill out. Enjoy the ride. But don’t let yourself catch any feelings for him. He’s one cool robot, but robots don’t have emotions.’

Cloud’s mouth clamped shut. Then he sighed. ‘I’m being careful, I really am.’ As careful as he could be under the circumstances anyway. They were like two magnets placed in close proximity, not even really trying hard to fight off the attraction between them.

It was nice having sex with a man who seemed to see him more than an omega body. At the very least, an omega whose company he hadn’t paid for.

But Reno seemed to be able to magically read Cloud’s thoughts. ‘After all, he did pay for you.’

‘Paid my debt,’ Cloud snapped, his temper uncharacteristically getting the better of him.

Reno stuck out his tongue. ‘Isn’t it the same thing?’

Then almost belatedly he realized what Reno was doing. He was trying to needle him.

‘Why are you saying all these things?’

‘Because I don’t want you getting hurt,’ Reno said.

Just then, the doorbell started ringing rather insistently. Loud knocking at the door that put Cloud on high alert immediately. A man’s voice, calling Cloud’s name rather urgently.

‘Before you answer, bolt the door,’ Reno said.

Before Cloud hit the intercom, he made sure the door was locked. It was a complete stranger. ‘Who are you?’ Cloud asked cautiously.

‘Sir, I’ve been sent by Mr. Fair to check on you.’

‘Yeah, right. Don’t believe that for one second,’ Reno said, and bolted the door himself.

Cloud frowned. That can’t be right. Reno was already here.

‘I’m … I don’t think I should be opening the door to strangers,’ he said apologetically.

‘Sir, I will have to report this to Mr. Fair,’ the man said.

Cloud frowned, concerned at the strange turn of events. ‘That’s … fine?’ He shut off the intercom. Better safe than sorry.

‘Hey, you want to hit the shops with me?’ Reno asked casually. ‘Got a new place I wanted to show you. Great leather boots.’

‘No, I’m not supposed to go out,’ Cloud said, and just at that point his mobile phone rang. It was Zack. ‘Hey, Zack.’

‘Cloud, are you safe right there? Are you alone?’ Zack asked. ‘I’m currently with Sephiroth’s kids, so I can’t leave the estate. I sent my man to check on you, but when he was checking the security feed at the building entrance he saw … something amiss.’

‘Um, I’m safe. I’m with Reno,’ Cloud answered, and he heard Zack’s vehement swearing on the other side.

‘Cloud, I need you to stay calm right now. Reno’s not supposed to be there. He’s not supposed to be anywhere near you. I want you to open the door to my guard. He’s a man I trust.’

Cloud walked to the door.

Reno smashed his hand down on Cloud’s before he could touch the deadbolt. Cloud turned to glare at Reno. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Cloud, open the door now,’ Zack said again, urgently.

Reno now fully blocked the locked door, grinned at Cloud.

Cloud took a step back. 

‘Do you know what this is?’ Reno took something out of his pocket, held out a small revolver. A fucking gun. Cloud’s blood turned cold. 

‘Cloud, please open the door,’ Zack said, but Reno took the phone from him, hung up on the call.

Reno smiled at Cloud in what he probably thought was a reassuring look, and spoke in a voice low enough that it wouldn’t be heard through the thick door. ‘You’re going to be fine, Cloud. I’m not going to shoot you.’

‘And yet you’re pointing a gun at me,’ Cloud said, surprised to find his voice steady.

‘I just need you to cooperate,’ Reno said. ‘This gun is what I called insurance.’

Cloud jutted his chin, clamped a hand over his wrist to keep from betraying his own trembling. ‘What do you want?’

‘My boss just wants a chat with you, nothing more.’

‘This is a horrible invitation,’ Cloud said. ‘Isn’t your boss Sephiroth?’

‘Yes, but unfortunately for you, he has a boss too. He’s ordered me to bring you to his place for a cup of tea. He just wants a chat,’ Reno said. ‘We can do this real easy, or I could do it real hard, kid. Knock you the fuck out and drag your ass out of here. Or you can walk out on your own accord, have a chat with President Shinra, and he’ll let you come home safely.’

‘Dead, I presume,’ Cloud said.

Reno waved the gun slightly. ‘Let’s not jump to theatrics here, shall we? No, he does not want you dead. In fact, he has a proposition for you. But I’ll let him do the talking.’

Cloud eyed the gun. ‘I don’t have much of a choice here, do I?’

Reno shrugged. ‘Well, I do have a gun and you have none, so …’ He smiled so cheekily for an instant Cloud wanted to sock in him in the groin where he knew it would really hurt him.

‘Fine,’ Cloud said.

Outside, the man was still ringing the bell. 

‘Tell him that everything is all right,’ Reno said.

‘Everything’s fine,’ Cloud said.

‘Tell him you have a headache, and you’re going to have a nap.’

‘I’m tired. I have a headache. Do you mind if I have a nap?’

‘Cloud, may I please come in?’ the man said, a hint of panic in his voice.

‘No, you may not,’ Cloud said, tears in his eyes. ‘I’ll talk to you later. I don’t want any company right now.’

‘Did Reno approach you, Cloud?’ the man asked. ‘I need to know that you’re safe. Is he in there with you?’

‘He’s not in here,’ Cloud said, regret tinging his voice even as he stared unblinkingly at Reno. ‘Listen, if this isn’t urgent I’m going to have a nap. My head hurts.’

‘Don’t open the door for anyone other than me,’ the man said.

‘Bye,’ Cloud said. He turned to Reno even as the man’s phone rang. But Cloud had to concentrate on the situation in front of him. ‘What now?’ he asked coldly. 

Reno holstered the gun. ‘Mind turning around for me?’

‘Why, so you can shoot me in the back?’ Cloud asked sarcastically.

‘Ha-ha,’ Reno said. ‘Come on, be a sport.’

‘No,’ Cloud said.

Reno sighed. ‘Fine. Don’t blame me for this then.’ He punched Cloud straight in the gut, forcing him to double over in pain, breathless.

‘Fuck!’ Cloud huffed, and dropped to his knees. Reno might be a skinny son of a bitch but his punch was something else.

‘Sorry, kid,’ Reno said, pulling a long tube out. ‘I’m just doing my job.’

‘What the fuck is that?’ Cloud barked, trying to flail and fight as Reno pinned him to the floor, jabbed the syringe into his arm. ‘Fuck you Reno!’

‘It’s just a tranquilizer, man,’ Reno said. ‘Calm down.’ Then he laughed. ‘Literally. Get it?’

‘Fuck off,’ Cloud said, even as the fast-acting chemical began working in his body. His vision began dissolving, and everything was slowing down. He felt a weakness in his limbs as he stopped fighting.

‘You’re in safe hands,’ Reno said. ‘I promise you.’

‘Your promises aren’t worth shit,’ Cloud slurred, and dropped his head on the ground. ‘Goddamnit Reno, when I fucking see your face again I’m going to punch the hell out of you.’

‘I’ll hold you to it,’ Reno said. ‘’Bout the least I can do anyway. Good night, Cloud. I’ll see you real soon. You’re safe.’

Maybe he was stupid to believe Reno, but Cloud did anyway.


	16. Chapter 16

Reno hadn’t been wrong.

Cloud woke up in a safe place.

Safe enough, anyway. He looked at his surroundings.

He was reclined in bed, on a very firm mattress. There was a thin sheet over him, but it kept him cool despite the mild warmth in the air. The sun was high up in the sky, and his body felt like it had just woken up from a very long sleep.

It was a four-poster bed with gauzy white hangings over it. The furniture was simple but expensive, he could tell. Across the room, a man sat in the armchair, cleaning his fingernails with a penknife.

‘Rise and shine, sweetheart,’ Reno said.

Very slowly, Cloud tossed back the blanket. Checked that everything was still intact, that nothing was injured or hurting. His body seemed fine, and his mind calm. He was alive.

That was the most important. At least he knew they wanted to keep him alive. For now. 

Cloud got to his feet. Then he looked up, and Reno wandered into his space. ‘You OK, kid?’

‘I’m fine,’ Cloud said, then straightened. ‘I’m fine. Just need some water.’

Reno walked over to the table, poured him water in a crystal glass before handing it to him. Cloud finished the entire glass, then put it down on the bedside table.

Then closed his hands in a tight fist, plowed in straight into Reno’s jaw.

He watched with satisfaction as Reno tumbled to the ground. There was outrage in his eyes that eventually sparked into humor. ‘All right, I deserved that,’ he said, then got to his feet. ‘Man, you have a great right jab. But you only get one free punch, OK? If you hit me again I’m gonna whale on you like a bitch.’

‘Where am I?’

‘You know you’re somewhere different, don’t you?’ Reno grinned at him. ‘It’s all in the smell of the air, baby.’

‘It’s warm here. Humid,’ Cloud said.

‘Welcome to Wutai, kid.’

‘What the fu—’ Cloud exclaimed with shock. ‘ _Wutai_? How long was I out for? You transported me halfway across the world? How?’

Reno laughed. ‘Hey. Did you forget who I work for? My boss wanted your ass here, so I made it happen. Does it really matter how it happened?’

‘Yes,’ Cloud said indignantly.

‘All right then,’ Reno said flippantly. ‘Long story short. Chloroform, and a private jet.’

‘How long have I been out?’

‘Eh. Not very long.’

‘One day? Three days?’ Cloud demanded.

‘A little over a day,’ Reno said, then shrugged. ‘I guess I was a little heavy-handed with the tranquilizer, then the subsequent chloroform.’

‘Fuck you, Reno.’

‘Yeah, I’d fuck me too. Not every day you’d see a stud like me. Relax, blondie. No harm’s going to come to your sweet little ass, I promise you. You’re just here for a chat.’

Cloud calmed himself. Reno hadn’t lied to him so far. He had been treated exactly like he had been promised. If they wanted him dead they wouldn’t have bothered flying him all the way over here. ‘When will I meet your boss?’

‘Which one? I work for quite a few of them,’ Reno grinned like the asshole he was.

‘The shit head who thought it was a good idea to bring me here.’

‘Well, that was the big boss,’ Reno said. ‘Not today, I’m afraid. But I was told that as soon as you were ready, you could join us downstairs for some breakfast. Change of clothes over in that dresser there, and toiletries in the bathroom.’

‘Who the fuck’s “us”?’

‘You’ll find out,’ Reno said, then left the room after giving Cloud a two-fingered wave.

Cloud wanted some time to think, so he took his time in the shower. Brushed his teeth, washed his face. He wanted to make sure the last vestiges of sleep left him. Whatever that was coming at breakfast, he wanted to be fully alert and awake for it.

That being said, despite his desire for temperance, he ate like a starving wolf at the breakfast table, alternating between stuffing his mouth and glaring at Reno, who sat opposite him.

Cloud stopped eating when he heard footsteps down the hall.

A tall, blond man walked in, his features aristocratic and arrogant. There was just something so inherently confident in his demeanor despite the fact he was only wearing a white silk dressing gown and clearly nothing underneath it, judging by how the way the silk clung to his muscles.

Next to him, a stern-looking man with Wutaian coloring with his pale skin and inky black hair, stared straight at Cloud. Even as the blond man took a seat at the head of the table, he accepted a cigarette stick from the dark-haired man and waited as he lit it up with an antique lighter.

The blond man placed the cigarette in his mouth, inhaled. Then finally, his gaze shifted to Cloud.

‘Who the fuck are you?’

Cloud blinked. There was a short, uneasy hesitation when the black-haired man tipped his head at Cloud. ‘His name is Cloud Strife.’

‘And I should know him how?’

Reno sighed. ‘Your father ordered us to bring him to Wutai.’

What was going on? Cloud was so confused.

‘Right,’ the blond man said. ‘But _why_ the fuck is he in my house?’ the tall blond man asked. His words could be construed as aggressive, but there was no vitriol in his voice. In fact, his body language suggested only casual bafflement.

‘With all due respect, boss. Not your house,’ Reno said. ‘Your daddy’s house.’

‘And since I’m his son and only heir, I assume it is also mine?’ the man said, taking a long drag of his cigarette before languidly blowing out a breath. He clearly took no offense to the way Reno spoke to him, although the compact-looking man with black hair clearly did.

‘Reno,’ he said, reprimand in his voice, and Reno backed off.

The black-haired man now stared directly at him. ‘Hello, Cloud. My name is Tseng,’ the man said. ‘And this is Rufus Shinra, Vice President of Shinra Corporation.’

Cloud glared at Reno. ‘Is this your boss? I thought you wanted me to speak to President Shinra.’

‘I am, as they say, an intermediary,’ the man called Tseng said. 

‘Doing the boss’s dirty work again,’ Reno smirked.

‘Thank you, Reno,’ Tseng said.

‘Can somebody please explain to me why I’m here?’

‘The President has kindly asked that you enjoy your stay here in Wutai for the time being. He won’t be able to make it in to see you until next week.’

What was he, on a goddamned pleasure barge? ‘Whatever would I do here?’

‘I’m sure you can find much to amuse yourself,’ Tseng said. ‘The pool outside is a generous size, and this villa is equipped well. There is a library on the third floor, a piano on the second. There is a television in your room, as well as a computer. The grounds are extensive, and the garden is well-maintained. As long as you stay within this property, you are free to move around.’

‘But … for what reason?’

Tseng looked like he was considering something. Eventually, he seemed to decide to tell Cloud the truth.

‘The president is proposing a marriage between the both of you.’

That was not what Cloud was expecting. At all. ‘Both of _whom_?’ Cloud asked, confused.

‘Yourself and Vice President Rufus.’

Rufus snorted. ‘Dear old papa has seen fit to arrange my marriage for me, I see? How’d he talk you into it, Tseng?’

Tseng ignored it.

Cloud stared. ‘No. I mean, why? I don’t want to be married to anyone. I don’t even know him.’

‘What exactly do you object to?’ Rufus smirked. ‘Me, marriage, or the fact that they dumped your trespassing ass in my house?’

‘All three,’ Cloud retorted. ‘But especially the first.’ 

‘Did you tell him my tastes don’t run to omegas, Tseng?’ Rufus continued, as if Cloud hadn’t spoken at all. ‘Or did he tell you instead?’

‘I have my orders,’ Tseng said, and his expression was stony.

‘Hmmm,’ Rufus said, and in that single sound, he made it sound like a threat.

Cloud watched as Tseng visibly flinched, although he did a very good job in veiling it by pulling over a façade of calm.

‘If the marriage does not suit the both of you, you are free to go your separate ways. However, the condition for freedom is that you produce an alpha child together,’ Tseng continued, as if he was reciting off an internal list. ‘You will be provided for and well reimbursed for your trouble. Should you find this arrangement to be satisfactory you may continue, and for every child you birth regardless of their secondary gender, you will be paid five hundred thousand Gil.’

‘I am not for sale,’ Cloud said.

Tseng raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you certain about that? I heard Sephiroth bought you for a million.’

Cloud flushed. Tseng had him there.

‘If you are not satisfied with my explanation, you are free to seek your own with President Shinra when he comes down here early next week.’

‘Then what do you suggest I do for now?’ Cloud retorted. 

‘I suggest you entertain yourself,’ Tseng said. Then after a loaded pause, he said, ‘Wait.’

Cloud breathed quietly. ‘What does Sephiroth think about all of this?’

‘I’m sure he has an opinion, but I didn’t seek it out,’ Tseng said. His voice was so cool and unruffled that Cloud must as well be talking to a robot. It was disconcerting to be told all of this like he was dispassionately reciting the menu at a classy restaurant. Professional, but detached.

‘So let me get this straight. The president needs a grandchild.’

‘An heir,’ Tseng said. ‘For the Vice President.’

‘Rufus can’t get himself a bride?’

Rufus chuckled quietly, and only kept smoking.

‘Why not a beta woman? Why an omega in particular?’ Cloud asked. Alpha-omega birthrates were declining rapidly, and chances of success were not high. But when they did succeed, they also had a higher chance of producing alpha instead of beta children.

Tseng shrugged his shoulder in a delicate fashion. ‘I do not pretend to have any insight in the President’s decision-making process.’

‘He just wants a brood mare,’ Cloud said. ‘He wants an alpha grandchild, doesn’t he?’

Tseng did not nod or shake his head. ‘If that’s what you wish to call it,’ he conceded gracefully, and Cloud suddenly despised the man. Who was this lackey bastard and who did he think he was?

He hated the President even though they had never met. He hated Reno, who took advantage of their friendship. Or at least, what he thought was a friendship. It had clearly been a lie. Fucking asshole too.

They could all go to hell.

‘No, thank you,’ Cloud said curtly. 

‘I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice in this,’ Tseng said.

‘How on Gaia are you going to compel me against my will?’ Cloud said.

‘It’s happening soon, so I might as well just come out and tell you,’ Tseng said. ‘You have no inhibitors on you.’

‘Yes, I do—’ Cloud said, then stopped. No, he did not. The inhibitor pills he took daily, and kept his heat cycle at bay. Most omegas were better off without their heats, unless they liked getting fucked and impregnated while being so inebriated they could barely say their own name. Unless they gave him his pills back, how long did he have until his heat cycle kicked in again?

‘You aren’t going to give me my pills,’ Cloud said. Why did he even say it, it was already a foregone conclusion. He suddenly felt frightened.

‘No,’ Tseng confirmed. ‘That would defeat the purpose of the President’s plan.’

‘What does he want?’ Cloud asked in a voice that came out far softer than he wished it to be. ‘What’s his end game?’

Tseng looked at him, his face completely neutral. ‘I’m sure you can guess.’

‘Why me?’ Cloud asked.

‘You … are an omega,’ Tseng said, and there was a brief, indescribable expression that crossed his face when he said the word _omega_. Like it was a dirty word, but like a prayer too. Something unattainable, something unfathomable. Something he didn’t like very much.

‘So what?’

‘His son is an alpha,’ Tseng said. ‘Reno and I are both betas.’

Cloud’s entire body froze in fear.

‘What an asshole my father is,’ Rufus said casually even as he stubbed out the cigarette. ‘Tell him no thank you. It’s quite passé to interfere in your son’s sex life.’

‘Why me, then?’ Cloud asked in disbelief. ‘I know I’m an omega, but with his influence he could have fucking found any omega who would do this willingly.’

‘Yes, I do want to know why as well,’ Rufus asked casually. ‘My taste doesn’t usually run to blonds.’ He tapped his cigarette gently against the ashtray. 'Seriously, it's like I'm fucking someone I'm related to. Disgusting. I hate blonds.' 

Ignoring that strange declaration, Reno understood what he was asking immediately. ‘He’s the whore that Sephiroth bought out recently.’

‘Ahhh,’ Rufus said, understanding now alighting in those cold eyes. ‘I see.’

Cloud did not see. ‘I’m not doing it. I don’t want to do it.’

‘I believe what you want is completely irrelevant,’ Tseng said politely.

Cloud stood up with a loud jerk, and his chair fell to the floor. With his heart pounding in his ears, he raced up to his bedroom.

And no matter how illogical it was, he began barring the bedroom with all the furniture he could find. He might be hours or days away from his heat descending upon him, and a mountain of furniture was certainly not going to stop it, but the physical barrier was somehow comforting anyway, and worked to calm him down.

He sat quietly on the edge of his bed. What would he do? What could he do?

Escape? But to where? He had no ID on him, no money whatsoever. His phone was missing, but of course it fucking was. He knew no one here, and from what he had seen outside the window, this villa was as breathtaking as it was isolated.

Did Sephiroth know?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You may type #punch_name of person or character to give said person a well-deserved punch. 
> 
> For instance, #punch_Munchkin cos of the totally unnecessary plot angst. More plot, no smut! I suuuuuck. 
> 
> As always, love you all and thanks for the support! It means the world to me, you just don't know it.


	17. Chapter 17

Sephiroth could not wait to get out of this damnable place.

Two days ago he had arrived at this vast estate deep in the heart of Periculum territory. The manor was owned by the uncle of the current Don, whom Sephiroth had approached to help broker the peace between the two groups. Representatives of the two groups were then invited to the manor for a week of lavish wining and dining under the guise of trying to hammer out some form of a deal.

The Periculum group knew that their backs were to a wall, with Sephiroth constantly sweeping their territory and forcing them to retreat. But the time for petty turf wars for both groups were over, and the Shinra Group had extended them an olive branch.

Sephiroth had been asked by President Shinra to join him for this so-called friendly visit. It wasn’t as if he suspected foul play would be involved, but in general Sephiroth didn’t trust anyone. If there was a potential for a gun fight, this was it. It was more likely than not it wasn’t, though, but Sephiroth remained wary regardless.

But it had all been very pleasant and inoffensive from the start. Constant drinks around the ridiculous estate, light conversations about nothing in particular – the weather, the expensive and tasteless art work – but never once did the negotiations come up.

Sephiroth spent the first two days bored out of his mind, since President Shinra preferred to say nothing at all, instead enjoying the facilities on offer. The steam room, the tennis courts, the swimming pool, the horses. Lightly socializing with the family members of the Periculum family as esteemed, honored guests instead of the enemy.

It was all very strange, but perfectly normal too. The Periculum knew that they were at a dead end, with Shinra uncovering and dismantling far too many of their operations. Just because they were on enemy territory didn’t mean they were vulnerable either, since they were practically surrounded by their own guards.

Besides, most importantly, they knew they could not take down Shinra Corp without destabilizing the entire society of Midgar. What’s left was to make peace, and possibly ingratiate themselves with them. Shinra had the upper hand, and they knew it.

It wasn’t until day two, just around drinks before lunch when Genesis stood at his elbow.

‘May I have a private word?’ Genesis whispered in his ear.

Sephiroth stilled. Genesis would never pull him aside unless there was an issue. ‘Excuse me,’ he said politely to the Katherine Periculum, the eldest daughter of the Don.

He let Genesis usher him into a little sitting room off the main dining room.

‘Cloud’s gone,’ Genesis said.

Sephiroth’s froze, but his gaze speared towards Genesis. ‘What the hell do you mean?’

‘Zack reported that he had been visited by Reno. Rude was also there, and he neutralized the guard that was there. By the time Zack dispatched another guard, Cloud was already gone.’

‘Gone where?’ Sephiroth asked.

‘That’s what we need to find out. If they wanted him dead they wouldn’t have bothered to drag him off.’

‘Shinra,’ Sephiroth said, then instinctively his hand moved to the gun he always had holstered underneath his jacket. It was a comforting weight, solid and slim, but reliable when time came for its use.

‘Yes, clearly it’s most likely him,’ Genesis said. ‘He’s never been a subtle one. But you can’t go rushing into this.’

‘I’m not stupid,’ Sephiroth said. The one thing he wanted to do was the murder the son of a bitch, but he knew it was the last thing he would do. First, he had to secure his family’s safety, and then Cloud’s. Cloud only came under their radar from being associated with Sephiroth.

But he would not feel guilt now. Not when there was the next logical course of action. ‘We need to find him.’ He looked down, then saw that Genesis had curled his hand around Sephiroth’s left forearm. ‘Release me.’ 

‘You can’t leave, Sephiroth,’ Genesis said, then redoubled his grip on Sephiroth’s arm. ‘You have to stay here.’

Sephiroth angrily yanked his arm out of Genesis’s grip. ‘No.’

‘Think of your own position here, you bastard,’ Genesis hissed in his ear. ‘The old man’s been waiting for you to fuck up. Use that legendary brain of yours, and don’t let your dick guide you.’

Sephiroth tried to listen to his best friend’s words. He knew Genesis meant well, and he knew he was right. But that didn’t mean it sat any better, any easier. But he did his best. Took a deep breath, and thought about it.

He couldn’t move until he had more information, and he certainly couldn’t risk doing anything stupid when the old man was here, right in front of him. He needed to trust Zack, Genesis. They had his best interests at heart.

But did that include Cloud’s safety?

‘You can’t risk everything you’ve built for a whore,’ Genesis continued to say, but softened his voice now, knowing that Sephiroth was ready to listen.

‘He’s not a whore anymore,’ Sephiroth said quietly.

‘You can call him whatever you want, but he’s not anything to you right now. Not compared to your family, your position. Tread carefully, Sephiroth. The old man’s watching you like a hawk. Look at the goddamned smirk on his face.’

It wasn’t true at all, Sephiroth thought. He might not know what Cloud was to him, but it was no less important than his family and his position. But all the more he needed to be rational, to be cold-blooded. This was yet another ruse of the old man, who seemingly had endless ways of trying to fuck with him. Sephiroth only needed to stay calm, and he would prevail.

‘Fine,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Promise me you’ll let me know as soon as you find out anything.’

‘Of course,’ Genesis said. ‘Trust me. I’ll head back to your place first, check on Zack, and get the details from him. After that I’ll hit your apartment and get some answers. I’ll pick up the trail.’

‘Slip away during lunch,’ Sephiroth advised. ‘If anyone notices I’ll make excuses for you.’

He kept calm, but underneath that façade, his blood was boiling. He could not even look at President Shinra in the face. He was afraid he would kill him, damn the consequences and all.

So he tried to listen to the conversation.

He knew Richard Periculum was desperate to push for a marriage between him and his daughter Katherine, to cement the tentative peace between both groups. Of course he had preferred Rufus Shinra, but everyone knew Rufus had no interest in marriage. He even preferred Shinra’s illegitimate son, but that was a no go as well. Everyone knew Lazard Deusericus held no real position of power, and was merely the chief technology officer at Shinra Corp. He had no mind for the politicking, or flirting with power. He was a simple man, with simple wants. 

But by virtue of Sephiroth’s stony silence, he allowed President Shinra and President Periculum to contemplate the arrangement of his marriage. Sephiroth didn’t care for it, but right now, he didn’t have the mental energy to reject it, to fight it. Not when he was trying to figure out what the fuck the old man wanted.

He refused to give into the fear that the people he loved would be in danger. He had already made sure to redouble and alert the guards around his boys, and had sent word to make sure Vincent would be transferred over to his now heavily guarded estate. It was better if they were all in one place now. With Zack at the helm, he knew no harm would come to them. The man was ferocious as he was loyal, Sephiroth knew.

But that didn’t mean he wasn’t frightened. After all, he was still human. And yet, he knew he couldn’t give in to it. Not now.

He half-listened as Katherine droned on and on about interior decorating, of all things, making unsubtle prodding at Sephiroth’s supposed loneliness since he didn’t have a spouse. He demurred politely until she eventually gave up, moved away on the pretext of getting him a plate.

Then his attention was drawn by the fact that the old man was proposing a toast. ‘My dear friends,’ he began. ‘Thank you for hosting us. At the end of the day, we all want the same thing. Peace and order in Midgar City. I am quite certain our negotiations will be fruitful. And to the person who’s made it all happen …’ He lifted his glass in toast to Sephiroth. ‘To my ever loyal consigliere,’ he said. ‘What would I do without you?’

It was a compliment as much as it was a threat.

Sephiroth lifted his own glass, bared his teeth in the smallest of smiles.

By the time bedtime arrived and everyone was finally allowed to retire for the night, Sephiroth retreated to his bedroom. His phone rang. It was not Genesis, but Zack instead.

His heart clutched in fear, but he mustered calm, picked it up.

‘Genesis was shot in the abdomen,’ Zack reported. ‘It happened en route to your downtown apartment.’ 

‘What the fuck!’ Sephiroth hissed furiously.

‘He’s been rushed to the hospital. Midgar General.’

‘Get Angeal,’ Sephiroth barked.

‘He’s already on site, and scrubbing in. Preliminary reports was that it wasn’t overly serious. Genesis was still conscious and barking instructions to the first responders that arrived on scene. The fact that it was a gunshot wound means that it’s brought some heat down at the hospital, and it’s been challenging trying to get someone on ground. It was a warning shot most likely, Sephiroth.’

‘Fucking hell,’ Sephiroth said. ‘What a goddamned mess.’

‘Genesis told me to convey to you that you have to stay put,’ Zack warned. ‘You have to stay there, or the old man wins.’

‘I know.’ Sephiroth knew, but he hated the idea of it. The helplessness of it killed him inside. But he knew there would be a reckoning for his defiance.

‘What do you want me to do?’ Zack asked.

‘Stay there for now,’ Sephiroth ordered. ‘I’ll find Cloud myself. As soon as this bullshit thing with the goddamned Periculum is over. I’m going to contact Angeal myself, find out how Genesis is doing.’

What did the old man really want with Cloud? Perhaps he had already intimated it once – that he wanted Cloud with Rufus Shinra. Perhaps anyone else would do, as long as Sephiroth didn’t have him. 

There was to be no sleep for him that night.

So he waited by his phone until Angeal could get back to him.

When he finally did, Sephiroth snatched up his phone and slammed to his own ear.

‘How’s Genesis?

He heard Angeal’s deeply weary voice over the phone. ‘He’s fine. Going to be fine. The bullet missed his vital organs, which is … all I can say, Genesis’s devil luck held. The damage is minimal and the best we can ask for under the circumstances.’

Sephiroth released his own sigh of relief.

‘He’s been transferred to recovery now, and he’ll be out for a while. What happened, Sephiroth? He hadn’t had a gunshot wound since the last time that disgruntled young woman shot him in the arm.’

He could hear Angeal’s fury in those tempered tones. Sephiroth knew better than anyone, even Genesis himself, what Angeal felt for Genesis. There was no surprise that he felt that way.

‘I don’t know,’ Sephiroth admitted. ‘But I’ll find out soon.’

‘That’s not good enough,’ Angeal said. ‘I need to know if Genesis’s life is in any danger at all.’

‘I don’t know,’ Sephiroth said again. ‘But I’m posting more men in the ward. You just have to let them in, Angeal. I promise you, I will get to the bottom of this. May I speak to him?’

‘No, you may not,’ Angeal said, but there was no bite in his voice. ‘He’s only starting to come around, and it’ll be a while before he’s fully lucid. He’s had a major operation, Sephiroth. Whatever information that you need from him, he can’t give it to you now.’ 

He left a few instructions for Angeal with regards to Genesis’s care, and then considering his next move. Then he went to the old man’s room.

And with gritted teeth, explained to him what he already knew – that Genesis had been injured, and Sephiroth would now return to initiate investigations about what took place. There was so much more than that, but it was all he was willing to say for now.

‘Oh dear, who would dare hurt Genesis?’ the old man said. Sephiroth had to give him credit, at least. He affected an expression of shock. Whatever he lacked in finesse he always made up for it in dramatic chops.

‘I am unsure,’ Sephiroth said. ‘But that’s what I need to find out, which is why I need to be on the ground. I’ll leave my secretary with you, and you have half my guards. You’ll be well protected, in case Periculum tries anything. But they won’t.’

‘Hmmm. I wonder what Genesis was doing back in town,’ Shinra mused. ‘He’s not supposed to be there.’

‘I had him return to get me a few documents,’ Sephiroth said smoothly. ‘A few things that needed to be signed urgently that I’ve unfortunately forgotten.’

They both knew that he had never forgotten anything in his life.

‘Imagine,’ the old man mused. ‘If badly it could have gone otherwise. How fortunate for Genesis. Could we have said the same for you and me?’

Sephiroth’s blood ran cold. It was easy to discern what the old man was saying. If he had gone after Cloud himself, the assassin would have been instructed to put a bullet right through his head. Because it was only Genesis, he was still alive.

His own loyalty had saved his life.

‘Even so … how suspicious,’ Shinra said. ‘Do you think he was involved … in something?’

Sephiroth tamped down on the flare of anger. ‘If you are questioning his loyalty, then you are questioning mine.’

‘Ahhh, I would never,’ Shinra said. ‘After all, you’re completely loyal to me, aren’t you?’

That sentence hung in between them like a ticking bomb.

He couldn’t even bring himself to answer, but he had to. His own life depended on it. ‘Yes,’ he said, and it dripped like acid from his lips. The old man seemed to be satisfied enough with that admission.

‘Perhaps Genesis was caught in an unfortunate cross fire, perhaps?’ the old man lifted a brow. ‘A stray bullet?’

Sephiroth wanted to punch the old man in the face. ‘Perhaps,’ he said in a non-committal manner. ‘Perhaps it was intentional as well.’

‘Yes, perhaps,’ Shinra said. ‘No one touches my people in Shinra Corp. Keep a level head, Sephiroth. You are my right-hand man, after all. I don’t want you making any rash decisions.’

Sephiroth tilted his head genially. ‘Of course.’

‘Go then, with my blessings,’ the old man said. The tiniest of smirks played on the corner of the old man’s lips, partially obscured by his blond moustache. And that was when Sephiroth knew for sure.

‘Whatever it is, I will make sure that whoever who is behind this will pay dearly,’ Sephiroth said, staring at the old man straight in his eye as he stood up. Wanted to make sure he understood his ultimate fate, clearly and without a doubt.

The old man was as good as dead.


	18. Chapter 18

Barring the only entryway in his room turned out to be a foolish course of action – because of the amount of time it took to take it all down and put it back in the right places. He had shoved all the furniture in front of his door in a fit of fear-induced adrenaline, but after his mind cleared, removing the obstacles seemed to take a considerably longer time, especially when he realized two things – one, he didn’t actually know when his heat would arrive. It might be two hours, or two days. Two weeks, although it was unlikely.

Two, if he barred their access to him, it meant that he would have no access to them either. He couldn’t count on anyone to save him as reassuring as that idea was. He needed to find out more if there was any chance of avoiding a crappy fate as dictated by someone else. Also, in order to keep up his mental and physical energy to plan his escape whatever form it took, he needed to feed himself, not starve.

So he joined them at the dinner table that evening despite his own fears. It was far more ordinary than he had thought it would be. The black-haired man who had so coolly laid out the deal in front of him, Tseng, was standing in the corner of the room, tapping on his tablet. Reno was tucking into his food so heartily it was like his last meal. Rufus Shinra was eating his food, with beautiful manners.

‘Hey, good of you to join us, Cloud,’ Reno said.

Cloud sat down cautiously, and began eating in silence.

He watched everything. Everyone.

He watched the way Tseng offered Rufus a high ball filled with two fingers of whiskey, and a small dish that contained pills of some kind. There was a long white one, then a capsule filled with golden liquid, and a round, shiny white one. There were a lot of pills, but apparently it wasn’t even the full range of what he usually had.

Rufus took the whiskey, but peered at the dish. ‘We’re missing one, Tseng.’

Tseng didn’t answer.

Rufus’s eyes flicked to Tseng this time, with a sharpness that suggested annoyance or anger. ‘Where’s my fucking rut suppressant, Tseng?’

Cloud froze, his fork hovering over his steak.

‘I’ve been ordered to withhold the suppressant,’ Tseng said.

Rufus slowly rose to his feet, looking like a cobra slowly rearing up. Even the stoic Tseng braced himself.

But then that was it. Instead of lashing out like all of them expecting him to do, Rufus only said in a very calm voice, ‘Darkstar. Heel.’

A vicious looking dog came bounding up to Rufus, waited obediently on Rufus’s left. Then they left, presumably to go for a walk.

When he exited the room, all three of them heaved a simultaneous sigh of relief. Reno was the first one to break the silence. ‘Shit. I thought he was going to pull a gun on you, boss.’

‘I doubt it,’ Tseng said. But his voice told a different story.

‘You guys are serious about this, aren’t you?’ Cloud said. ‘You’re going to force us to fuck and make a child even though we don’t consent and I will remind you that is completely illegal under the law. That makes it a crime.’

‘Well, thank you for informing us, I didn’t know that at all,’ Reno said sarcastically.

‘Reno, please,’ Cloud said, changing his tone.

Reno shrugged. ‘Can’t. I’m under orders. Sorry, kid. Look, you don’t have to make this bad. You just have to relax and—’

‘Spread my legs?’ Cloud asked, infusing a sharp note of irritation in his voice.

‘You were a whore,’ Reno said. ‘Can you just pretend he’s like a client you’ve had before? You’ve been working for a couple of years at the Butterfly, surely you’ve had your fair share of alpha assholes. Just think of him as another one.’

‘One that’s very unwilling,’ Cloud said.

‘Hmm, a whore with morals,’ Tseng said quietly.

‘Ex-whore,’ Cloud reminded them. 

‘Get it done and over with,’ Reno said. ‘I would.’

‘Yes,’ Cloud said. ‘Your opinion is much appreciated. You’re a beta, Reno. You don’t know what it’s like to have a stranger fuck you while you’re in heat, let alone an alpha who’s in rut doing it. You have no idea how demeaning it is, but I’m afraid your scumbag brain and lack of morals won’t let you understand it even if I tried to explain.’

Reno let the insult bounce off him harmlessly. ‘I don’t, but what choice do you have? You have no way of getting home safely, and the Prez isn’t going to let you go home unless you have a brat in your belly. In fact, maybe you should count your lucky stars that he wants you to have Rufus’s kid, not his.’

Cloud tried to fight the chill that came with his hair standing on the back of his neck.

Reno continued despite Cloud’s obvious discomfort. ‘At least the Vice-Prez is fucking hot, you know. I’d suck that dick if I were a cock-sucker. Imagine sucking on the old man’s dick, which I’m thinking smells like a combination of tobacco and mako.’ He raised a hand for a high-five, which was not reciprocated by either Cloud or Tseng.

‘This is illegal,’ Cloud began, and Reno just laughed.

‘Is this how you found yourself stuck in the Butterfly House in the first place? You’re so fucking naïve, Cloud,’ Reno said, shaking his head. ‘Almost makes me feel bad for doing this shit to you. Is it your first day in Midgar? You do know what Shinra Corporation stands for, right? Greed. Totally illegal and criminal shit. Forcing an unwilling alpha and omega to fuck just to make an heir? That’s easy peasy pudding pie, kid. Just suck it up and do it, kid. Then at least you can get home.’

‘Fuck you, Reno.’

‘Not an option, I’m afraid,’ Reno said. ‘Although regrettably so. You’re pretty cute yourself.’

Cloud made a face at the sleazebag.

Tseng spoke up in calm and measured tones. ‘Reno’s advice is not wrong. Rufus is not a bad man. He will treat you well. He might not be a good husband, but he will provide for you if you marry him. And he will treat you fairly.’

‘What you’re suggesting is preposterous,’ Cloud said. ‘I won’t do it. I’ve had enough of other people taking advantage of me, and it’s not going to happen again. How much time do I have until my heat hits? Or when his rut hits?’

Tseng surveyed Cloud carefully, as if trying to determine how much to tell him. ‘A day or two. Hours, depending on how strong your suppressants are.’

‘I’m on prime-level inhibitors,’ Cloud said. ‘The pink ones.’

‘Fairly strong then. You have strong pheromones,’ Tseng said. ‘A day, at most.’

‘When is Rufus’s going to hit?’

‘Probably by day two or three of your heat.’

‘Fuck me dead,’ Cloud barked. Once he got into the peak of his heat at about three days, he must as well be useless. He was going to be a gooey, wet mess salivating for only one thing, a slave to his biology without regard for logic or reason. If they threw them into a room together, there was going to be only one outcome.

Tseng straightened. ‘Let me know if there’s anything you need to prepare for your heat. I will endeavor to get them to you as soon as possible.’

‘Yes,’ Cloud said. ‘My inhibitors, thanks.’

Tseng merely stared at him, unfazed.

‘Please,’ Cloud said. ‘This isn’t right.’

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Tseng left the room, his back ramrod straight and his face placid despite the twitch in his jaw, leaving only Reno with Cloud.

‘Sucks to be Tseng,’ Reno said, then shrugged.

‘Him?’ Cloud’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. ‘Not the potential victims?’

‘Well,’ Reno said. ‘When you two boink you’re gonna be inebriated as fuck. Chances are pretty high you will barely remember any of it. Whereas Tseng has to make sure it’s done, and he has to watch his lover go ga-ga over an omega stranger.’

‘They’re lovers?’ Cloud asked, startled. ‘This is FUCKED UP!’ His voice went up a whole octave into an angry, frustrated yell. He stomped back into his bedroom, locked it. Then locked the bathroom door too, and got to scrubbing his skin vigorously.

Tseng had to be wrong. His heat wasn’t that near. It wasn’t an itch under his skin, but merely disgust as the thought of being a useless pawn in this series of events. What had he ever fucking done to these people? The President of Shinra? Cloud had never met him before.

Why him? His mind cried.

When he finally emerged from the shower, he pulled on the thin robe that was hanging on the back of the door. The thin, cool material felt good on his feverish skin. It wasn’t from the heat, but from the shower. 

Right?

He shivered. What was he going to do now?

There was a knock at his window.

Cloud looked up, froze.

The man named Rufus stood outside on the locked balcony on the third floor, casually smoking like he had been there the entire time.

After a long hesitation, Cloud got up, cracked open the sliding window a tiny inch. ‘What the hell do you want?’

Rufus stubbed out his cigarette on the crystal ashtray on the banister. ‘I want the same things you do,’ he said. ‘Let’s make a deal, little omega.’

Cloud flung the door open. ‘Talk,’ he ordered.

‘We can do this the easy way, or the hard way.’

‘What’s the easy way?’ Cloud asked, but he already knew.

‘We fuck, give my fucking asshole of a father the grandchild he wants so much. We get married. And then seek a divorce when we are both ready. You will have a generous settlement and alimony, and full custody of the children if you wish.’

‘And?’ Cloud stared.

‘We’ll go our merry ways,’ Rufus said. ‘And I’ll deal with him.’

‘Deal with him how?’ Cloud asked despite himself.

‘First, I’ll strangle the whore mistress he loves so much with my own hands, right in front of his face. And then I’ll put a bullet through his head.’

‘Right,’ Cloud said after a beat. ‘Not that then.’

‘Are you sure? It’s easier to submit,’ Rufus said.

‘No,’ Cloud answered. ‘Not to you. Not to anyone else.’ 

‘I thought so,’ Rufus eyed him critically. ‘You’re very stubborn. Not that I wouldn’t enjoy taming that wildness of yours, but I think it’s foolhardy to take on another when I already have one in the stables.’

Cloud reminded himself to tread carefully. ‘And the other option?’

‘You’ll go into your heat and I into my rut, and we stay away from each other. Next time I see my father, I’ll put a fucking bullet through his head.’

‘The point of the heat is that we can’t keep our hands off each other,’ Cloud reminded him.

‘No,’ Rufus corrected him. ‘You had the right idea the first time. Bar yourself in the room. I’ll have a dead bolt installed. That does mean you will have to suffer through your heat without someone to help you. It will be agony.’

‘Wouldn’t be the first time,’ Cloud said. ‘How about you?’

‘Me? A rutting alpha just needs someone to fuck. It doesn’t specifically have to be an omega,’ Rufus said.

Cloud considered this. ‘You mean, anyone will do?’

‘Hmm. You could say that.’

‘For instance, a certain Wutaian beta?’

Rufus’s grin was sharp and cruel. ‘It will be a good lesson for someone who thinks he can withhold my suppressants at my father’s behest. He needs to learn where his loyalty belongs to.’

Cloud felt almost no sympathy for Tseng whatsoever. The man had no hesitation whatsoever in carrying out his duties, he deserved whatever that was coming to him. ‘I don’t care what you do,’ he said. ‘As long as you don’t touch me.’

‘You’re not my type,’ Rufus said. Then smiled sardonically. ‘But then again, type doesn’t matter in the heat of the moment, does it? I will do my best to stay away from you, little omega. But I suggest you bar yourself nice and tight in this room. Don’t let even a single whiff of your pheromones taint the air where I can breathe. As long as we stay away from each other, we should be fine.’

Cloud hesitated. ‘What’s in it for you then?’ It didn’t have to be said that this deal did not benefit Rufus substantially other than gave him an opportunity to defy his father. He could have easily taken advantage of a helpless omega and get his jollies off within the space of a breath.

‘Nothing,’ Rufus said honestly. ‘Except that I can’t stand the smell of omega.’ He cast a lazy gaze over at Cloud, and Cloud stiffened. He didn’t even pretend to apologize.

‘What’s wrong with how I smell?’

Rufus smiled. ‘Too sweet for me. Like overripe fruit on a hot day. It sickens me to my stomach.’

Cloud blinked.

‘If I had to choose between your scent and none at all, I’m sure you understand which option I would take.’

‘Unscented, like a beta?’ Cloud asked, lifted an eyebrow in challenge, daring him to say no.

But Rufus didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, he only smiled.

‘You hate omegas,’ Cloud said, slightly baffled. He had never met an alpha who didn’t like an omega. It almost seemed like an anomaly, an abnormality he didn’t understand. That was the natural order of their existence – an alpha and omega, and betas for each other.

‘On the contrary,’ Rufus said. ‘What I despise is the fact that just because I’m an alpha, I’m expected to mate with an omega. _I_ make my own fate, little omega. And I will defy whatever destiny my father has planned for me to the very end.’

Cloud didn’t understand, but he could respect that. ‘Very well. So we have a deal then?’ Cloud said.

Rufus offered his hand, and Cloud took it.

He didn’t want to of course, but he had no choice. The enemy of his enemy was naturally a friend of his, under the circumstances. He just hoped through this way, he would buy enough time for himself.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warnings: Potential dub-con. 
> 
> I don't personally consider it so, but I'll leave it to your discretion.

The little omega turned out to be quite wily, despite the fact that he had such a country boy demeanor on the surface. Rufus had pegged him for somewhat of a hick, but apparently he’d been wrong. The omega must have been a whore long enough to know how to back himself into a corner before coming out swinging.

Following their discussion, the omega was smart enough to barricade himself in his room. He’d blocked off the main door so no one could get in or out, and kept his windows sealed. But it wasn’t foolproof, he knew.

Just for shits and giggles, Rufus stood outside on the omega’s balcony. It was easy enough to do so. The omega’s room was connected to the next room via the balconies, which were next to each other. He didn’t even have to climb anything. A quick leap over and he was there. And if he wanted to, he could hurl a rock through that flimsy glass, brush past the drawn curtains, and walk into the room.

He wanted to prove to himself that he could rise above this entire fiasco. It was risky, sure, especially when he could feel his own rut coming.

The stink of the omega’s pheromones after the first day proved that Rufus was fooling no one but himself. Even though he despised it with every inch of his soul, it didn’t mean the biology of his body didn’t try to betray him.

Rufus could feel it. Burning a stream under his veins was that horrible, terrible itch. He looked at his hand as it curled into an angry claw, his short fingernails digging into the stone banister.

On his other hand, a coin flipping between his curled fingers, currently held in a fist that was almost too tight. He had to keep reminding himself to relax. The coin flipped once, twice, thrice. One, two, three.

Again and again. It helped him focus.

It would be easy enough, he reminded himself. To just take the whore, make an honest man out of him. Marry him. Give him privilege. Status. An elevated position where omegas usually never reached. Yes, sure they had societal equality and their rights were equal under the law. But where it really mattered, everyone knew that omegas were still the downtrodden. The underprivileged. The ones who had the most to lose.

Rufus had always been ambivalent about his own alpha status. After all, how he could have many strong feelings when everything in his life always went his way. No one ever said no to him. Ever.

Then one day, someone did. And the simple reason was, ‘You’re an alpha. One day you’ll find an omega to breed with. You wouldn’t want anything to do with me then.’

And Rufus had spent every waking moment since then fighting that assumption.

He lit up his fourth cigarette, slowly pulled on it.

Well, he didn’t have to break through the glass. Not when there was already a small gap from the sliding door that had been left open just a smidge. The lock had been broken quite easily with a flick of Tseng’s pocket knife. He had walked in with an ordinary-looking A4 envelope, a resolute set to his jaw.

Rufus could hear everything – the omega’s occasional sob as he tried to fight off his own instincts, the smooth, reasonable tenor of Tseng’s voice.

How long had he been in there? Judging by the desperation in the omega’s voice, Tseng had been there for half an hour at least. The omega was losing his shit in there. The pheromones were getting stronger, more noxious. More overwhelming.

Rufus could still fight it. Right now, anyway. But he knew he would have a snowflake’s chance in hell once the full force of his rut hit. Just this last cigarette, then.

He was just taking a deep huff when the only man who had ever said no to him walked out.

His face was as inscrutable as ever. Guilt, pity – none of it showed on his face. But Rufus knew him too well.

It was all in the stiff line of his shoulders, the way he held himself as he walked out. Like he had just gotten out of the ring, having knocked out an opponent that was already incapacitated.

Tseng had walked into the room with the envelope and a fast-acting hormone inhibitor pen. A very expensive, top of the line syringe pumped full of chemicals that could stop a heat dead in its tracks. It was efficient, but the side-effects also took a toll.

Now he had walked out with the envelope, and sans the inhibitor. So he had exchanged the pen for something, most likely a signature on whatever that had been inside that folder. It was probably like taking candy from a baby, the very act of negotiating with someone who had entered his heat.

It was an appalling, horrible thing to do, and they both knew it. 

Tseng couldn’t even look at him in the eye.

‘Mission accomplished, Tseng?’

Tseng didn’t answer, but Rufus also knew that Tseng would never left a task incomplete or unfinished. It was in his Turk DNA – to deliver no matter the cost to themselves or the other people around them. There was a reason why they earned that moniker. They were the epitome of ruthlessness, wrapped inside the suit of civility and borderline psychopathic behavior.

Why on Gaia did Rufus choose to fall in love with someone like that?

Someone who put his own feelings aside for the job? Someone who had ice running through his veins instead of blood?

‘Was that your ultimate objective after all?’ Rufus tipped his head towards the folder Tseng was holding. His own blood boiled in response. ‘Was it really necessary to put us both into heat?’

Tseng at least deigned to answer the question. ‘It was necessary.’

‘I hope you’re prepared, Tseng,’ Rufus said. ‘There are … consequences to your every action. What’s that famous Wutaian saying again? _You can’t blame a whipped horse for kicking_?’

Tseng shrugged, but his hooded eyes suggested that he was at least partially troubled when his usual choice of façade was poker-faced stoicism.

Rufus’s short bark of laughter contained nothing of mirth. ‘Fucking hell, Tseng. Every time I think I have a solid grasp on you, you manage to surprise me.’

‘You don’t know me at all,’ Tseng said quietly.

‘I beg to differ,’ Rufus said.

They stared at each other on that balcony, neither willing to move.

But Rufus could feel it coming. He knew he had more to lose in this situation than Tseng did, anyway. The onus was now on him to move.

Rufus angrily stubbed out the rest of his cigarette and turned on his heel. He wanted nothing more but to get out of this villa. What was once his refuge had now become a place where his own behavior was now subjected to no limits.

It was dangerous, and Rufus wanted no part of it.

‘I want to leave,’ Rufus said.

Tseng followed close behind him, sounding strangely subdued. ‘I could book a room at the Wutai Chalets.’

‘No. Too close.’

Tseng considered Rufus’s reply carefully. ‘The penthouse suite at the Icicle Hotel then.’

‘Fine,’ Rufus said, then stopped dead in his tracks. Turned to Tseng. ‘I want it as comfortable for you as possible.’

It gave him some satisfaction to see Tseng pale ever so slightly as he understood the meaning behind Rufus’s words. There would be retribution, Rufus wanted Tseng to know.

In silence, they travelled by helicopter to the Northern Continent, piloted by a very stiff, rigid Tseng. He didn’t want to be in the villa with the omega there, and certainly wanted to be clear of it by the time his father arrived.

Rufus didn’t say a word until they were checked into the suite, and the door closed silently behind them.

Tseng refused to budge from the door, and resolutely stood there.

Rufus took his time removing his coat, throwing it across the room so it hit the chair before sliding to the ground. He began unloosening his tie, all the while staring at Tseng in a dangerously predatory manner, judging by the way Tseng flinched.

‘We don’t have to do this,’ Tseng said.

Rufus laughed. ‘You wanted me on my rut.’

‘Your father did,’ Tseng snarled.

‘Are you going to stand there and deny you had a hand in it?’

Tseng’s face was completely stony, and he turned on his heel. ‘I’ll find you an omega.’

Rufus caught him by his elbow. Gripped him hard enough that he knew it would definitely hurt.

‘It’s not happening, Tseng,’ Rufus said. ‘We’re not getting one tonight, not the next either. We’re going to leave all the fucking omegas in this world alone, because I would rather die than do what my father wants me to do. What you’ve set me up to do. You’re a complicit little traitor.’

‘I was under orders,’ Tseng said quietly.

‘Fuck your excuses,’ Rufus barked. ‘Get down on your knees right now.’

For a brief moment, Tseng’s expression was defiant. Then it smoothed over, and he obediently got down on his knees in front of Rufus.

‘Strip,’ Rufus ordered.

Tseng began by unbuttoning his jacket. In deference to his neat and tidy nature, he folded it briefly before placing it to the side. Then he loosened his black tie, rolled it up before dropping it on the pile.

Rufus reached forward, fisted his hand against the man’s snowy white shirt, and ripped it down the middle with an aggression that frightened the both of them. With Rufus’s hand still in front of his chest, Tseng’s own hands instinctively shot out and gripped him around the wrist and forearm.

A frozen moment passed, and then Tseng was the one who slowly, reluctantly let go. Dropped his hands, smoothed over that expression of fear.

Rufus knew pain was nothing to Tseng. This man had worked as a Turk for so long that pain was not a factor. In fact, as a born interrogator and negotiator, he was used to inflicting pain on a regular basis. He’d seen Tseng break the son of a rival in a cold, brutal manner in less than eight hours. Mental and emotional torture was his forte.

No, he wouldn’t only give Tseng pain. But he wanted Tseng destroyed until he was down on his knees in agony. He knew of only one way to do so – to break past that stoicism, that legendary Wutaian stubbornness. In fact, he was looking forward to it.

Rufus was going to drown Tseng in a sea of pleasure and shame. Tseng needed to learn the lesson that his place was by Rufus’s side.

He yanked Tseng’s head up by a thick hank of his hair, and bent his own close to Tseng’s nape. Gently laved his tongue over that faint scar that he’d put there himself from biting down over and over again until it broke skin.

Tseng barely managed to suppress his own flinch, and that was when Rufus bit down. Hard.

The strangled scream was music to Rufus’s ears.

It gave Rufus enough time and opportunity to wrap his arms around Tseng, wrestled him down onto the ground. He knew Tseng could fight him off if he really wanted to, but at this very moment he knew at least that Tseng was willing to submit. Whether it was out of guilt, it didn’t matter.

Rufus’s right hand inched downward, swiftly unbuckled Tseng’s belt and undid his pants as fast as he could. It was ungainly and he fumbled with Tseng’s refusal to help him, but with some luck and persistence he managed to yank his underwear down enough to give him access.

Tseng looked like he was going to belt him, so Rufus tried to offend him even more. He planted his mouth on Tseng’s, and to no surprise Tseng kneed him in the balls, pushed back against his chest.

‘Don’t cross the line, Rufus,’ Tseng growled.

‘Shut up,’ Rufus growled back, and thrust his fingers inside of Tseng. It was dry and unyielding and barely a hiss escaped him, but Rufus kept going. He wanted to destroy Tseng, but he didn’t want to hurt him. Not physically, if he could help it. He wanted him singing with an unquenchable, shameless pleasure, a carnal one that only Rufus could bring him.

As soon as Tseng was ready, and he was, barely at that, when Rufus felt the undercurrent of urge that had been sizzling under his skin unleash, and he finally, finally gave in to it.

The moment he slid inside of Tseng … he could barely describe that sensation that flushed through his entire body. It felt like an enormous rush of hormones rose to meet him, that every cell in his body was declaring that this was just, and that this was right.

He reared back onto his knees, mindless of the way it was digging into the carpet, and thrust forward. He had one hand on Tseng’s waist, one holding his hip, thrusting in and out, leaving Tseng to fend for himself, to brace himself against their combined weight so he didn’t smash his face into the floor.

Rufus liked the staccato gasps that fell from Tseng’s lips, the way he reluctantly gave voice to his own pleasure. The way his body folded, pliant towards Rufus’s every will, happily giving him his body even though he refused to give him his heart.

Fucking Tseng, Rufus thought. Even though despite everything, that was exactly what he was doing, and yet he knew he was being the one being fucked with. Furious, disappointed, hurt beyond belief, he channeled all his aggression into the physical act.

He gasped as he came, and pulled out before he could knot Tseng. Betas weren’t meant to take a knot – it could seriously hurt them. So he spilled all over the both of them, creating an unbelievable mess. Despite the relief that he knew would only last a short while as that deep thirst inside him was quenched, he felt empty inside. So empty.

So meaningless.

Underneath him, he could feel Tseng’s back rising and falling rapidly. That straight black hair fanned across that pale back, with the familiar constellation of stars that Rufus had memorized with his eyes and fingers.

‘Are you quite done, Vice President?’ Tseng spat.

Rufus laughed.

He got to his feet, snagged Tseng’s wrist and dragged him to the bed.


	20. Chapter 20

The villa was strangely quiet by the time he arrived. For some strange reason he had expected a lot of carnage – wailing, screaming, fighting, arguing. He hoped for anything but the sounds of the one person he had feelings for being ravaged by strangers, taken advantage of.

He could privately admit that the thought itself scared him. Frightened him that someone as lovely and innocent as his little blond, who had emerged from a two year stint from a brothel still as fresh and sweet as a daisy, could have that very innocence corrupted or destroyed somehow.

And it would be all his fault.

But no matter what, he was a realist, a pragmatist. No matter what happened next, he would face it. They would face it together. No matter how long it took.

Sephiroth unclicked the safety on his gun, held it steady. Ready to fire at anyone who was going to be foolish enough to stand in his way. He was here to retrieve his omega; he would settle for nothing less.

He led the charge himself. It was a small team, and he was missing his most trusted aide in form of Genesis, but he still trusted each and every one of them.

They entered through the garage, and from then on it was an easy sweep to secure the house.

And as he had first suspected, it was empty.

‘Fuck,’ he muttered to himself. ‘Check the rest of the house.’

As he waited in the living room, wondering about his next move when one of his men reported in. ‘We hear something. Hang on.’

Sephiroth held his breath.

‘Third floor bedroom in the back,’ his man reported.

‘I’ll be up there,’ Sephiroth said.

He stood outside the door, trying to listen. But there was nothing, only a faint shifting noise every now and then. Enough for him to know that there was something alive inside there, most likely human, and someone who was very unaware that there were intruders in the house.

‘Door’s blocked,’ his men told him. ‘But the balconies are connected from the next room.’

Sephiroth motioned for them to watch both exits. He stood in front of the glass window, but he couldn’t see into it. He had a feeling though …

He brought up his gun, slammed into the glass hard enough to make a crack in it. Then used the butt of his gun to smash the rest in. He gingerly put his arm in, jiggled the lock.

The sliding door opened, and he stepped into the unnatural quiet. 

‘Cloud,’ Sephiroth said, and felt a deep drench of relief rush through him. He was alive, and safe. Seemingly untouched, although one could never tell.

Cloud sat by the window seat, an enormous swath of dark blue silk wrapped around himself. The bed was bare, which meant that he had taken the bed sheet. His head was leaning against the glass window, and his eyes were closed. None of the ruckus had disturbed his slumber. Was it chemically induced then?

The pheromones were so thick in the room that it almost choked him. Would have muddled his head, impaired his judgment if not for the fact that he obediently took his rut suppressants every morning and had a booster shot every couple of years. He refused to be a slave to his biology.

He approached Cloud very carefully, as he would a wounded animal. When he was satisfied that Cloud wasn’t going to startle awake or attack him, Sephiroth crouched in front of him, gently placed his arms around Cloud.

Cloud must have felt the touch, because his eyes opened blearily, dazedly. He struggled to focus on Sephiroth, and blinked slowly, as if trying to ascertain who it was in front of him.

Sephiroth arrived at the conclusion quickly enough. There was a used syringe tube on the bedside table, and he recognized it. It was a quick-acting heat suppressant, a powerful one that was used as a last resort. It didn’t come without its side effects, of course, but this was the final and effective way of stopping a heat once it had begun.

He cupped Cloud’s jaw in his hand, used his thumb to feather against Cloud’s reddened cheeks. His skin was dewy and warm. He must be slowly emerging from his heat now.

Cloud tipped his head back, exposing his bare neck and torso as the silk slipped down his skin. He turned enough so that Sephiroth’s thumb now ended up ghosting his lower lip.

Those lips parted, and Sephiroth’s thumb slipped inside the warm moistness of Cloud’s mouth. Cloud’s blue eyes, so big and soft, so tired and muddied, looked up at him, and he sucked gently.

It was wrong to be turned on under the circumstances, but Sephiroth could not deny the effect that the omega had on him.

That tongue flicked out, licked the pad of his thumb. That mouth, so soft, sucked gently on his skin.

‘Cloud,’ Sephiroth breathed, and Cloud’s eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly but insistently dragged Sephiroth into his arms. Pressed together, Sephiroth could feel Cloud’s erection straining, swollen. Hard as steel, leaking precome.

When he had touched down in Wutai, he paid no attention to the stifling heat, that strange muggy humidity that was unfamiliar to one who had lived in Midgar most of his life. But he was always able to shake off the exertions and discomfort of his physical body, and focus on the here and now.

But right now, with Cloud’s naked form draped against him, he actually felt himself perspiring. He wanted nothing more to shed his own clothes, trap Cloud’s body underneath his.

Cloud moaned against his thumb still, and arched his hips. His thighs were slick, and this close to him, Sephiroth could smell the pheromones so intensely. If they stayed here too long, he would end up fucking Cloud into oblivion. But he didn’t judge this place to be safe enough.

‘We should leave,’ Sephiroth said quietly. ‘Come on, Cloud.’

But Cloud remained stubbornly still. ‘No,’ he moaned. ‘Need you.’

‘Not right here, Cloud,’ Sephiroth said.

Cloud sobbed, and clawed at his lapels as if he could try to get inside of Sephiroth.

‘Come on. Let me draw the bath, and you can have a bath, all right? A nice warm one,’ Sephiroth cajoled, but that only made Cloud shake his head. He wasn’t about to move.

Sephiroth eyed Cloud. He didn’t need a bath. He needed release, relief. Sephiroth knew what it was like to be in a rut. To have those primitive, wild urges needle at him until his body was nothing but a wretched weapon chasing its own desire to completion. It was humiliating as it was mortifying, pleasurable as it was painful.

The least he could do was help out. He gently eased his thumb out from between Cloud’s lips, moved lower to the reddened cock. Cloud cried out when Sephiroth gripped him hard, stroked him fast. Cloud’s thighs opened up, as if inviting him, and Sephiroth used his free hand to graze those trembling thighs. He pressed fingers against that loose, soft entrance, with slick leaking out of him.

Cloud moaned as Sephiroth’s fingers slid inside of him, delving inside of him and bestowing on him the pleasure that he needed. There was so much slick, and it was so wet that Sephiroth’s hand felt drenched. Inside of Cloud it was warm and soft, sucking his fingers in.

Sephiroth twisted his fingers, stroked his cock. Worked efficiently until Cloud shuddered in his arms, spurted all over himself. Then he collapsed against Sephiroth’s body, closed his eyes, seemingly able to rest for now.

Sephiroth found a cloth, wet it so he could clean Cloud up. He hauled Cloud to the bed, that unconscious figure still cocooned in the blue silk. He didn’t move even as Sephiroth made arrangements to transport Cloud back to Midgar.

He still slept on the flight back, emerging only once or twice to choke down some of the food that Sephiroth insisted he eat. He was still suffering from the ill-effects of the suppressant and his aborted heat, which included drowsiness and extreme fatigue. But for now, the sexual desires seemed to have subsided.

It wasn’t until Cloud was back at Sephiroth’s estate, in his bedroom, clean and asleep underneath the sheets after a meal of bread and soup that Sephiroth began to breathe again.

It was perhaps his greatest fortune that the most pressing matter currently was trying to keep his three nosy children out of his bedroom.

‘Why is he here?’ Kadaj had demanded. ‘In your bedroom?’

Sephiroth didn’t even bother giving him an answer. Merely seared him with a glance, and that was enough to send him scurrying away to join his brothers hiding in the corner of the hallway.

He returned to work, left Cloud in the care of Zack.

When he returned from work that evening, he was pleasantly surprised by Cloud, who was sitting on one of the lounge chairs by the pool, discreetly nursing a tall glass of something ice cold, watching his three sons playing with their oversized water guns by the garden in their bare, muddy feet.

Aerith, their nanny-slash-governess-slash the only person who had any semblance of control over the boys, was sitting next to Cloud. She occasionally called out if the boys danced too close to the pool, or got a little too physical with guns.

She was the one who saw him first. She waved at him jauntily, then got to her feet. ‘Would you like a drink?’

‘Yes, please,’ Sephiroth said.

‘Your usual?’

‘My usual,’ Sephiroth confirmed, then took the seat that Aerith vacated. Next to him, he could feel Cloud stiffen, clam up.

Sephiroth offered up his hand, and after a short moment of hesitation Cloud took it.

‘We … don’t have to talk about it,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Not unless you’re ready. I’m here, just to make sure you’re safe. Do you feel safe?’

‘I do feel safe,’ Cloud said quietly. ‘I don’t mind talking about it. But right now … I’m feeling a little tired.’ He got to his feet, and excused himself.

Something wasn’t right, Sephiroth knew. But he wasn’t sure what. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, and it wasn’t just because Cloud was clearly being more reserved and quieter than usual. He couldn’t even meet Sephiroth’s eyes.

Something was off about his reaction, Sephiroth could tell. Omegas who finished off their heat, whether aborted or not, tended to be a little bit on the clingier side with physical affection. At the very least, they tended to be more receptive to an alpha’s advances anyway. But Cloud had either stayed asleep, or he had stayed away.

Aerith returned with Sephiroth’s drink.

‘How are the kids?’ he asked.

‘Great! They had orientation sessions at their new school today,’ she said. ‘They made gnocchi at kindergarten, and you now have three containers of misshapen gnocchi in your fridge waiting for you.’

Sephiroth made a face. ‘Would you kindly deliver them to the boys’ godfathers?’

Aerith grinned. ‘I believe Loz’s godfather already ingested one of them. I’ll make sure the rest are delivered to the hospital this evening.’

‘Would you also take a fruit basket to Genesis?’

‘He hates fruit baskets,’ Aerith said. ‘I’ll take a basket full of those prime Mideelian chocolates instead.’

‘You know best, Aerith,’ Sephiroth said. ‘How’s …’

‘Cloud?’ Aerith said. Here she hesitated, as if trying to find the right words. ‘He seems…’

‘Traumatized?’

‘That’s not the right word for it,’ Aerith said. ‘He seems … scared. I don’t know. He’s still tired too, keep that in mind. He’s in his recovery period. I mean, I’m not an omega, but I’ve seen what happens to omega post-heat. He just needs some time.’

‘If time is what he needs, I can do that.’ The truth was, Sephiroth would have given him anything. He just had to open his mouth and ask for it.

That night, Cloud touched Sephiroth for the first time since they had returned to Midgar.

He was jolted awake when he felt something, someone between his legs, and he opened his eyes.

Cloud’s blond head bobbed gently up and down as his mouth worked tirelessly around Sephiroth’s cock. Sephiroth’s hand shot out instinctively, curled around Cloud’s hair. ‘What are you doing?’

Cloud’s baby blue eyes stared up at him. He slowly removed his mouth, and Sephiroth felt his hard cock throbbing in the cool night air, now devoid of the warmth of Cloud’s mouth and tongue. ‘What do you think I’m doing?’ Cloud said so quietly that Sephiroth could barely hear him.

In the dark Sephiroth could make out Cloud’s other hand reaching back to finger his own entrance. There was a feverishness in Cloud that Sephiroth couldn’t quite pinpoint, and his entire body was stiff with need and unexpended urge. He seemed primal, having surrendered to his instincts.

The air was noxious with the perfume of his omega pheromones. The sweetness of vanilla and lavender that was once so sweetly refreshing now seemed to choke their senses, and Sephiroth could barely breathe because he was too busy fighting off his own body’s urges.

He felt like a wild animal – cornered, vulnerable, powerless in the face of this omega’s onslaught. Sephiroth bit down on his on tongue, and tried to clear his head. In front of him, Cloud had reared up on his knees, and Sephiroth could see the slick on his thighs glistening dully in the dark.

‘Fucking hell,’ Sephiroth seethed, and he grabbed Cloud by his wrist. ‘Cloud, stop.’

‘No,’ Cloud moaned, and he lifted Sephiroth’s hand to his mouth. That sinful tongue snaked out and licked at his fingers, all the while his other hand kept working, making that obscene squelching sound as he thrusted in and out himself. ‘I want you,’ he keened. ‘I need you.’ 

It was all too much for him. Sephiroth kicked away the covers, leveraged himself into a kneeling position by aggressively flinging Cloud down onto his back. He gasped, and Sephiroth flipped him onto his belly, pinning one arm down and the other behind his back. Sephiroth kept one firm hand between his shoulder blades, and reached down with his own fingers.

Cloud’s hips thrusted upwards, and Sephiroth met him fiercely. The first penetration tore a pained moan from Cloud, but his body gladly submitted. Sephiroth’s hips snapped sharply and quickly, driving a rhythm that Cloud barely kept up with. It was nothing like their previous lovemaking – it was rough and primal, animalistic rather than loving.

And yet, Cloud screamed for him to be fucked even harder.

Sephiroth complied.

When Sephiroth finally emptied himself in him and knotted him, finally calming Cloud’s inner omega down, Sephiroth held him in his arms. Cloud’s eyes fluttered close with fatigue, tears still glistening on those blond lashes.

Outside, the sun was just beginning its ascent. As dawn arrived, Sephiroth kept watching Cloud, who had slipped back into a dreamless sleep.

In the morning, as Sephiroth got out of bed to start the day, he saw Cloud watching him. His face was partially obscured by the pillow. All he said was, ‘I’m sorry.’

Why did Sephiroth get the feeling that Cloud was apologizing for something else instead?


	21. Chapter 21

From the window seat of Sephiroth’s bedroom, Cloud quietly watched the triplets horsing around downstairs. Besides its generous size and opulent furnishings, it was obvious that this was the master bedroom judging by its prime location in the mansion.

From his perch he could see most of the backyard, which was a place where Sephiroth’s sons spent the majority of their time now that the weather had turned beautiful. Sunny, with a hint of cloud cover. Temperate, mostly dry and warm.

He noted that the triplets were almost always occupied on weekdays. They attended kindergarten in the mornings every day, and then came home to extra-curricular activities. Mondays and Wednesday they had private tennis lessons, Tuesday free gymnastics, Thursdays and Fridays they had swimming lessons.

On the weekends, they were expected to entertain themselves, but they were often flanked by Zack and Aerith, who turned out to be human energizer bunnies themselves. They would not just supervise the children, but play with them as well.

He’d ventured out a couple of times, especially while in Aerith and Zack’s company. He felt safe with them, their natural effervescence, the kind warmth they radiated that held none of the pity that he was afraid of.

He spent the rest of his time wrapped up in blankets. Even though he was certain his heat had well and truly left him, he felt like he was no longer in control of his own body. It had betrayed him once, and it was liable to betray him again. The balance he currently held felt fragile and hard-earned, and he didn’t intend to squander it.

The overwhelming fatigue was enough to send him crashing early in the evenings. He went to bed early and woke up late. There were no pressing responsibilities on his part, which probably accounted for lack of motivation to get out of bed too. Sephiroth never once pushed him, and never touched him unless he allowed it.

They never spoke about what happened at the villa, and Cloud wasn’t sure if he wanted to. He tried not to think about it, because if he did he would remember how helpless he had felt in the face of his own heat, and the way Tseng had gotten the upper hand and forced him into the corner.

Cloud might have reached the ripe age of 27, but he had never once met anyone as skilled as the black-haired man back in the Wutai villa. He genuinely didn’t know what the man did for a day job, but his talents were wasted because he turned out to be a master interrogator. He had been in the room with Cloud for probably thirty minutes, maximum, and he made Cloud feel like it was thirty days.

He had impeccably precise timing, catching Cloud right between the lull where he was just lucid enough to make decisions, speak and pick up a pen, and the next where he could barely string together an entire sentence.

He took a seat in front of Cloud. It was a respectable distance, and they could carry on a quiet conversation quite comfortably. That is, if Cloud had been in the mood for a conversation.

Tseng opened up his right hand, gently placed a pen on the summer quilt at Cloud’s feet. It was a fast-acting hormone inhibitor. Issued by Shinra Corporation, these pens didn’t come cheap. But they could serve an importance function especially once an unwanted heat had begun.

Cloud’s hand shot out from under the sheet, but before he could touch it, Tseng calmly placed two fingers on the injector pen.

‘Not yet,’ he said.

Cloud’s nostrils flared with anger. ‘What do you mean, not yet?’ he barked. ‘My heat’s already begun, I don’t have that much time. How the hell did you get into my room anyway? I locked the door.’

‘You still have a small window of opportunity to stop your heat in its tracks, Cloud,’ Tseng said. ‘I only need something very simple from you.’ Tseng took out some papers from the envelope. ‘Sign this.’

‘What is this?’

‘An agreement that you will receive two million Gil in payout.’

Cloud’s eyebrows knit together. ‘In exchange for what?’ 

‘You know what,’ Tseng said. ‘End your relationship with Sephiroth. It’s not going anywhere.’

‘No,’ Cloud said instantly. Then shivered as he felt his insides clench. ‘I won’t.’

Tseng looked at him, tone of voice still calm but that shred of incredulity in his eyes somehow made Cloud ashamed of himself. ‘You’d pick him after everything he’s done to you?’

‘To me?’ Cloud asked. ‘For me, you mean.’

‘No, to you. Your debt,’ Tseng said. ‘Your two years of indentured servitude wouldn’t have come about if not for Sephiroth.’

‘You’ve got it wrong,’ Cloud snapped. ‘The Butterfly Group did this to me, it had nothing to do with Sephiroth.’

‘The Butterfly Group is under the purview of the Shinra Corporation. Do you think the title of a consigliere is just for show? Sephiroth controls everything within the corporation. The Butterfly Group has been doing this for years now. He’s allowed it to happen. And it happened to you.’

‘He didn’t make the direct decision to do so,’ Cloud said.

‘He may not have, but do you think he is without fault for your circumstances? If not for the fact you struck his fancy, you could have still been at the brothel, selling your body. No matter how you stack it, the reason why you were forced to be a whore is because of the Shinra Corporation. And you know the man pulling all the strings. Did you let the romance of him buying out your debt fool you, Cloud?’

Cloud’s breath hitched quietly.

‘Something about you appealed to him. He didn’t buy you out of guilt or remorse. He bought you out because you caught his eye. But for how long? Sephiroth isn’t a man known for steady relationships, since he has his pick of Midgar. This was the first time he’s ever used a whore, but even the novelty of it will fade one day. He values himself, his work, and his children. There is no place for you in his life.’

‘You’re lying,’ Cloud said, but he could not help the tear that rolled down his cheek. ‘I don’t need anyone’s money.’

Tseng eyed him carefully. ‘Is it because you think that you have the 1.5 million Gil coming back to you from the settlement with the Butterfly Group?’

‘It’s my money,’ Cloud seethed.

‘It is,’ Tseng agreed. ‘But it is also highly dependent on when the Butterfly Group chooses to release those funds.’ Tseng never even blinked. ‘They can choose to delay it. Shut down the group, and that will have you chasing the debt they owe you through the courts. It can and will take years, and you would have paid a fortune in lawyers’ fees. But you have an alternative, thanks to the President’s generosity.’

Cloud pulled the sheet tighter around himself. ‘Why does the President want me to leave Sephiroth so desperately? What does he have against me? What did I ever do to him?’

Tseng sighed. Then suddenly, he allowed some wariness to shine through his polite, indifferent demeanor.

‘It’s not personal,’ Tseng said. ‘Not with you anyway. You haven’t been in this long enough to understand mob business. But I have. Whatever you have between you and Sephiroth … it’s not worth anyone dying. And believe me, the old man has it out for Sephiroth.’

‘Sephiroth is a powerful man,’ Cloud began.

‘But not nearly powerful enough as the head of Shinra Corporation,’ Tseng said. ‘He wanted Sephiroth to stop seeing you. He didn’t. Now the old man is pissed. Whose head do you think is going to roll first?’

Cloud couldn’t say a word.

‘Not the whore he keeps,’ Tseng said. ‘Sephiroth will die if he takes a step wrong. His own life, his sons’ lives … they are in the balance. He has three of them, for fuck’s sake. But can you truly take responsibility for what could happen in the future just because Sephiroth is too stubborn to let you go?’

Tseng pushed the papers and the injector pen closer to Cloud. He leaned forward, elbows pressed against his knees.

‘If you want to take the risk, stay with Sephiroth, I am certain you will end up with nothing. No money, no Sephiroth. You face the possibility of death, as does he. The President is willing to offer you this time-sensitive deal. He’s transferred a million Gil into your bank account earlier this evening, with the remaining million to be transferred once you’ve completed your end of the deal.’

‘I don’t want the money,’ Cloud sobbed.

‘It’s already in your account,’ Tseng said. ‘He can chase you, or Sephiroth until the ends of Gaia if he wishes, so I would advise you to take this deal. The money, and …’ Tseng pushed the heat inhibitor towards Cloud.

At the end of the day, he didn’t know if logic and reason had pushed him towards signing the damned thing, or had it been pure desperation to fight off the heat, now crowding in on his senses.

‘I’ll wait,’ Tseng said. ‘Take as long as you wish in order to consider this deal. I’m not authorized to offer it once I leave the room, so I’m sure you understand that I need a definitive yes or no from you before I go.’

The wait had been agonizing. It had been the worst moment of his life.

He picked up the pen, signed the agreement. Threw it back in Tseng’s face. Then bit back on the sob and waited until Tseng left. Waited until it was all quiet again and that unbearable itch and pain flared from underneath his skin, forcing a deep, incoherent sob out of him.

That primitive instinct in his body, rising and burning through all his reason and mental faculties. He finally picked up the pen, uncapped it and injected it into his thigh.

The pain had been nothing compared to the deep relief.

He had made a decision, and now it was time to accept the consequences.

At the end of the day, this was not his life. None of this belonged to him.

It was time for him to go.

It seemed wrong to pack the things that he had bought using Sephiroth’s money. In the little overnight bag that used to contain all his belongings in the world, he carefully folded his own things into it. He had come into this with nothing, after all. 

‘What are you doing?’ Kadaj’s suspicious voice appeared at the doorway.

Cloud looked up just as his hands paused at zipping up his bag.

‘Oh,’ Cloud said. He wondered what to say, but he didn’t really want to lie to the kid. ‘I’m … just packing up my bag.’

‘Are you leaving?’ Kadaj asked.

‘Yes,’ Cloud said truthfully. ‘I’ve intruded on your home for far too long,’ he said. ‘It’s been wonderful here, but I should go.’

‘Why?’

Cloud wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. He didn’t have an answer to the question, really. ‘It’s just time for me to go,’ he said. Then he brightened, his smile wobbly but sincere. ‘I know I’ve been a pain in the butt for you and your brothers, but I hope you didn’t mind me too much.’

Kadaj frowned, but he didn’t say anything else.

‘When are you coming back?’

‘Mmm,’ Cloud said. ‘Not anytime soon, I’m afraid. It was very nice meeting you, Kadaj.’ He held out his hand for Kadaj to shake, only for the little boy to turn on his heel and bolt out of there. Probably to tell his brothers the good news, Cloud thought with bitter amusement. 

In the two weeks he had been here, he had only managed to spend time with the triplets the one time when Aerith had popped out to buy some garlic bread and ice cream to go with the boys’ pizza. Apparently pizza night with their dad was a thing, but that night Sephiroth had called and said he was going to return late.

So while they were watching some TV, Cloud was tasked to slice up some mozzarella cheese and tomatoes for the pizza. The triplets were not stupid. They took the opportunity to sneak up on him in the kitchen, climb up on the chairs to face him.

‘What are you doing here?’

Cloud looked up from his cutting, eyed the three of them. ‘Cutting up the ingredients for your homemade pizza,’ he said levelly.

The triplets weren’t so easily deterred. ‘I heard someone saying that you were dad’s special friend.’

Cloud resumed his task. ‘You could say that.’

‘Are you going to marry him?’

Cloud sighed. ‘Are you worried that I’ll marry him?’

‘Yes,’ Kadaj said resolutely.

Cloud smiled mirthlessly. ‘Well … I wouldn’t worry about that if I were you. I doubt it’s going to happen.’

Seemingly reassured, the triplets slinked away back to their TV program.

They might have been young, but they were also very protective of their dad. Cloud didn’t blame them. Here he was, a stranger who had simply appeared in their life.

Even the triplets knew that he didn’t belong here.

But it took him a full two weeks to gain the courage to speak, to make a move.

When he was ready, Cloud went to the study where he knew Sephiroth was, and knocked at the door. He couldn’t deny the way he took a deep, steeling breath before his knuckles tapped at the wood, nor the way those little knots in his tummy coiled up in unease. 

‘Come in,’ Sephiroth’s voice said.

Cloud stepped into the silent study, and closed the heavy door behind him. His feet sunk into the thick carpet, and his back was to the door.

‘Yes?’ Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

‘We need to talk,’ Cloud said.

Sephiroth didn’t do any of the things that regular humans would say. He didn’t ask if Cloud was all right, or what was wrong. He didn’t furrow his brow and ask, ‘What is this about?’

Instead he said:

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ In that terribly calm, cold voice. Those jade eyes were hard and flinty.

There and then it occurred to Cloud that Sephiroth knew exactly what Cloud had decided to do. That he knew exactly what had been going on, but had chosen to say nothing. 

‘Yes,’ he breathed out. ‘I want to.’

Needed to. Had to. Wasn’t it the same thing after all?

Sephiroth’s eyes never blinked. His body never moved. Like a cold stone god incapable of expression, emotion. Or mercy, and understanding. ‘Go on then.’

Cloud met his eyes. ‘I’m leaving. You and I … we’re done.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And before you go, 'Hol the fuuuuck up, fuck the cliffhanger', I'll have you know that I'll be posting a double chapter this weekend. Just because (a) I can and (b) it's the beginning of the year and (c) I'm sorry about the cliffie. 
> 
> Thank you for reading, I love you all! Especially if you're still sticking with this monster of a story!


	22. Chapter 22

‘Right,’ Sephiroth said.

Cloud looked away. ‘Right, then,’ he said, awkwardly and in a small voice. ‘I’ve already packed, and I just need to call a taxi.’

‘So this is it then?’ Sephiroth asked acidly. ‘You’re just going to leave?’

‘Yes,’ Cloud said. ‘I’ve made myself fairly clear. And you don’t seem to need an explanation.’

‘I don’t need to ask why,’ he said brusquely. ‘I know why.’

‘Then you will understand why I made this decision.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I’m not going to even try.’

The silence between them was tense, bordering on furious, almost. Neither of them willing to talk, nor listen. 

‘I see,’ Cloud said shortly. ‘Thank you for everything,’ he said. Then he turned.

Sephiroth gently laid the flat of his hand against the table, almost afraid that he would punch a hole through it. ‘Cloud.’

Cloud turned back to him, those beautiful blue eyes unfathomable, brimming with an emotion that Sephiroth couldn’t name.

He rose to his feet, then crossed the study. Cloud seemed to be frozen on the spot, and the only thing that was moving seemed to be his gaze as it followed Sephiroth. Sephiroth kept his pace slow, level – he did not want Cloud to bolt. He stopped right in front of Cloud, when he was barely an arm’s length away.

Sephiroth curled his fingers and thumb under his chin, gently brought it up to meet his eyes. ‘If you choose to do this, it will be final between us.’

‘I know that,’ Cloud said, then stubbornly yanked his chin out of his grip, looked away.

‘How much did they pay you?’ Sephiroth asked.

Cloud didn’t answer.

But whatever it was, Sephiroth was worth a hundred times that. His entire net worth was the only bright spot in his career. He wondered if Cloud knew that, and if it would make a difference if he had?

Either way, it was over. Cloud had betrayed his trust, and that was the end of them. He had taken their money, and he had acted on it.

Sephiroth combed his fingers through Cloud’s downy blond hair, marveled at its soft texture, that sunshiny color that he had enjoyed looking at for so long. He liked feeling it with his fingers, the clean smell of it against his lips, its starkness against the grey silk of his pillow.

He would miss this.

But he couldn’t accept betrayal in his life. He simply could not.

Sephiroth knew it would come to this, and yet … there had been a part of him, an unrealistic and naïve part that thought it wouldn’t happen. That silly little emotion called hope deep inside of him was as useless as it was an annoying imposition, and he had no need for it.

Moments like these reminded that he was human – more human than the people around him thought he was anyway.

It hurt.

When Zack had come into his office at Shinra Corporation that morning, his face looked like it bore bad news. Bad enough for Sephiroth to put down his pen, pause in whatever he was doing and hold his breath.

And it was so much worse than he had feared.

‘Accounting’s flagged an unusual transaction from the President’s account to, uh, Cloud’s bank account. From two weeks ago. It was buried, and not very well. One of Reeve’s accountants caught it.’ 

After a short, painful pause, Sephiroth spoke. ‘How much?’

‘One million. Another million in holding, pending authorization.’

Fucking hell, Sephiroth thought. ‘And the source is confirmed?’

‘Yes,’ Zack said. ‘Reeve ran through the numbers himself. It’s legit, Sephiroth. This isn’t looking good for Cloud.’

Sephiroth knew exactly how it looked. There could only be a few explanations as to why there was a sizeable sum of money in Cloud’s account and none of it was going to reflect well on him. And even if it had been a mistake, he hadn’t taken the opportunity across the past two weeks to confess to Sephiroth.

Which meant Cloud had been lying in the first place. It was the one thing that Sephiroth found unforgivable. A lie was a betrayal, and it was something he could never countenance.

When he returned home, he stood there, in the doorway, watching Cloud as he meandered slowly in the back garden. His shoulders were hunched, and his steps were slow and aimless. He looked like he wanted to run away, but didn’t know the best way to do so.

Sephiroth tossed his jacket onto the back of the couch. He remembered the way Cloud would pick up after him at the downtown apartment. Those sweet evenings where Cloud would make him something simple, or incredibly complicated. The way they spent the time just with each other, either fucking each other senseless or him listening to Cloud on the piano.

They ate dinner mechanically. If anyone was surprised at Sephiroth and Cloud’s lack of conversation, they didn’t mention it. The dishes were cleared, the boys were put to bed. Aerith called it a night, as did the housekeeper. Zack dropped in, and then left.

Sephiroth sat in the silence of his study. He opened up the locked drawer on his right with his fingerprint. He stroked the barrel of the handgun, reveled in the familiarity of the hard texture under his touch. There was a magazine on the side, and just next to it was a black velvet box.

He palmed it, and flipped it open. Nestled in the silk cushion was a platinum band with a perfectly round, gleaming blue diamond embedded in the center of it. It was one of those rare diamonds that had come out of the mines in Corel, and known for its perfection – whether it was the cut or clarity, it was nothing short of brilliant.

Even he had to jump through several hoops to acquire it. But it was worth it, because it was the same blue that reminded him of Cloud’s soulful sapphire eyes, and its perfection reminded him of its future owner.

He had been intending to propose when the time was right. When his children showed the slightest acceptance about the idea of having another parent. When Cloud breathed a little easier and lost that haunted look in his eyes. When he would stop stiffening up instinctively when Sephiroth touched him, before relaxing gently into lust.

He had waited too long. Because the whole fucking Wutai thing happened.

The right moment never came. Which was just as well.

Because he knew now that the perfection was a lie. The omega had chosen to abandon him for something as trite as _money_.

Sephiroth firmly shut the ring box, and slammed the drawer closed. Locked it.

And just at that moment, there was a knock on the door.

Sephiroth listened carefully to what Cloud had to say. It was totally, and completely expected.

Right now, he looked down at Cloud. Waited.

Cloud lifted his head, finally met his eyes. Those pools of liquid blue bore into his, and then his lips parted slightly, as if he was about to say something.

Sephiroth closed the gap between them, surrendered to the urge of tasting that mouth one last time. Instead of pushing him away, Cloud wrapped his arms around Sephiroth’s neck, as if giving him permission.

As if he was apologizing, showing remorse. Repenting his sin even though clearly he knew there was to be no absolution.

So Sephiroth took it. It was the last he could ever have of Cloud, and he wanted the smell, the taste of this omega imprinted on his soul forever.

They clutched at each other like two drowning souls.

Cloud’s fingers fumbled at the buttons of Sephiroth’s waistcoat, and accidentally ripped the last button a little in his haste. Sephiroth yanked the hem of his shirt up, pulled it off his head and pressed his lips to an erect nipple. Nipped the pinkness with his teeth, licked at it with his tongue. Cloud hissed, his hands gentle against Sephiroth’s neck as he pushed them closer together.

Sephiroth leaned in, and Cloud took two steps in retreat, stopping only when his back slammed rather violently against the door. His groan was swallowed by Sephiroth’s mouth on his, and the entirety of his weight supported by Sephiroth’s arm curled around his waist.

Cloud toed off his pants and underwear at the same time, quickly followed by Sephiroth’s fingers trailing down his naked torso, as if marking an invisible path that might disappear anytime. ‘Please,’ Cloud pleaded. Sephiroth knew exactly what he wanted, and sought to give it to him.

He would have given Cloud the world, but Cloud hadn’t wanted any of it.

Not what he could give, not what represented, not what he could provide. Not him.

Sephiroth’s fingers drifted downwards towards that wetness between his legs. He reached in, touched that sweet little spot, moist and soft and ready for him despite the circumstances. The heat sucked his fingers in, and he twisted them slightly in order to force that breathless gasp from those lips. Cloud’s grip slipped away, but Sephiroth caught him, pinned him against the wall with his free hand.

‘Lift your leg a little bit more,’ Sephiroth instructed, and Cloud obeyed him instantly. It gave Sephiroth even better access to him as he stretched him out efficiently. Fuck the condom, he thought, they had neither the time nor the inclination to get one.

He knew that the moment Cloud stepped out of his study, that would be it for the both of them.

Sephiroth entered him with a low groan, arranged Cloud so he had him firmly in both hands, his legs wrapped around Sephiroth’s hips, bouncing up and down, their skins flush against each other. He could smell Cloud’s scent – that clearly identifiable lavender and vanilla musk. It seemed so familiar to him by now.

What would it be like if he couldn’t smell it anymore?

Sephiroth grunted as he thrusted harder, pushing that thought out of his mind.

Prisoned in his arms, Cloud moaned, gripped his shoulders and dug in with his fingernails. He clenched so hard around Sephiroth that it made his knees weaken and almost drop Cloud.

‘Harder,’ Cloud whispered, and Sephiroth kissed him so hard their lips felt bruised. Their teeth clacked against each other, ungraceful and messy, with absolutely no finesse whatsoever. Every single time prior to this their lovemaking, while wild, at least had been considerate of each other’s needs. This was not it.

It was selfish. They took whatever they could off each other. It was desperate.

Cloud cried out as he came over himself, spraying their bare chests with stripes of come. Sephiroth could feel Cloud’s insides tightening, stuttering around him, and he closed his own eyes. 

Buried his face against the crook of Cloud’s shoulder, and accepted that he would never be able to claim this omega for his own.

‘I can protect you, Cloud,’ Sephiroth whispered. It was a pathetic, last ditch attempt, if he had the courage to admit it to himself.

Cloud stiffened, and Sephiroth had his answer.

‘You didn’t before,’ Cloud pointed out, and the rebuke was like a dagger to his heart. Cloud wasn’t wrong. Sephiroth had failed to protect him, and this was his penance, whether he liked it or not. This was the very least he could do for this little traitor.

It was as if he was ripping his own heart out of his chest.

Cloud lowered his legs onto the ground, and they separated from each other. Come and slick dripped down Cloud’s thighs, and Sephiroth eyed him with both sadness and anger.

‘You may stay at the downtown apartment until you find your feet,’ Sephiroth said. Then he hardened his heart. There was no longer a place for Cloud here. ‘But I never want to see you again.’

In the end, Cloud never met his eyes. He only pulled on his clothes in complete silence, a strange shroud of dignity and pride pulled over him no matter the words laced with fury and disappointment that Sephiroth threw at him. He opened the door, and Sephiroth saw that his bag was already there, perched against the wall, waiting for its owner.

Cloud picked up his bag, slung it over his shoulder. ‘Thank you for everything,’ he whispered, so quietly that Sephiroth could barely make out the words.

Then he was gone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that is the end of Part I. 
> 
> ... Did I not mention earlier that this was a two-parter finale for Part I? Oh dear. 
> 
> Shiiiiiiit I'm sorry. I'm also sorry you got sucked into this vortex of an endless story and that you have expended all that time and energy to read 22 chapters of smut and angst and then not have a happy ending. I am sincerely sorry. I'm working on it!!!!!! 
> 
> So if your question is, what happens from here on? The answer is that you get a well-earned break from me, and this story. The story will be continued in this fic, no separate Part 2s or anything like that, so leave your bookmarks on if you're interested in continuing. 
> 
> If your question is, how long will I make you wait? The answer is that it won't be long at all. I just need a little bit of time to get my ass in gear since I like being ahead at least a couple of chapters so I'm not writing by the seat of my pants. 
> 
> When this story comes back, you get a flashback and a time-skip. I'm like a goddamned time machine!!!!!
> 
> Go ahead, you can #wtf me all you like. I humbly present my ass on a plate for some serious butt-kicking. I still love you, and still appreciate that fact that you have followed this story for 20+ chapters ... that's a massive kudos from me to you!


	23. Chapter 23

_Twenty-three years ago_

‘I’m done, ma!’ Cloud announced, and slipped off the edge of his chair. ‘I’m going to feed the catty cats.’

His mother looked at him across the dinner table, eyed his unfinished meal. ‘You’re not going to feed the cats your dinner, are you?’

‘No,’ Cloud said. ‘I’ve got the milk, silly!’ He gestured to the thermos of warmed milk that his mother had plopped down by him just before dinner.

‘Well, you haven’t finished your food,’ she pointed out.

Cloud made a face.

‘Fine,’ his mother relented. ‘But I’ll leave it right here. You come back and eat when you’re ready. I’m not making you anything else.’

Cloud beamed. ‘Thanks, ma!’ He reached up on tippy toes and swiped the thermos, tucked it under his arm and ran with it out of the back door.

‘And be back before sunset!’ Claudia Strife called out, and Cloud giggled. It was summer, so sunset had to be very far away. The sun was still high up in the sky, and there was plenty of time to play. He sped up, ran across the meadows that made up his backyard.

It was a flat plain, with barely any trees. There were some bushes dotting the edges of their property, and across the far corner, a massive shed that held most of Cloud’s toys and some random mowing equipment. It was rusted and useless sitting in the corner, and his ma always told him not to touch it.

He gently opened the door, peering into the darkness. ‘Catties!’

There was Snowball and Calico snoozing under the shelf that held the remnants of his baby toys. Where was Coal?

‘Coal …’ Cloud called out cheerfully, then froze.

Coal was sitting in the lap of a boy. A bigger, older boy.

He had silver hair spilling against his shoulders, his green eyes gleaming in the darkness. He was shrouded in the shadows cast by the orange light that entered through the windowless square in the shed roof, and his hand had stopped stroking Coal, who mewled in protest.

‘Who are you?’ Cloud whispered.

‘None of your business,’ the boy said.

Cloud flung the door open, annoyance emboldening him. ‘Yes, it is! And that’s not a very nice thing to say. This is my shed!’

‘Fine,’ the boy said reluctantly. ‘I’ll leave.’

‘No, no!’ Cloud said quickly. He never had a friend in here before. He wondered if the big boy would be interested in staying and playing with him.

The boy narrowed his gaze at Cloud, and lifted his chin rather arrogantly in the air. ‘Tell me why I shouldn’t leave.’

‘Um … I need help feeding the catties,’ Cloud said quickly.

‘The … kitties, you mean?’

‘Yes, the catties,’ Cloud said, then pulled out the thermos of warm milk. He thumped it down on the ground, and began to unscrew the lid. ‘You can pour the milk,’ he said magnanimously.

The older boy got to his feet, and from his crouched position Cloud could sense that the boy was quite tall.

‘How old are you?’ Cloud asked. ‘I’m fo-fi-’ He faltered. ‘I’m fove this year.’

The boy scoffed. ‘Fove isn’t a word. Four? Five?’

Cloud couldn’t quite remember. How many candles did he have on his birthday again? He tried to visualize the candles, but he couldn’t even remember what color they were. ‘Four … five,’ he amended quickly. He was five. ‘I’m five. Are you fifteen years old?’ The boy down the street who liked to throw rocks at the cats was fifteen. He was very annoying.

‘I’m twelve,’ the boy said.

‘What’s your name?’

‘What’s yours?’ the boy retorted.

‘Cloud Strife,’ Cloud said cheerfully, then belatedly realized that he wasn’t supposed to tell his name to strangers. But this boy wasn’t a stranger. He was just a bigger boy. Which meant he was a friend. Right? ‘What’s your name?’

The boy wouldn’t say. So Cloud tried to give him a hand. He pointed to the white cat. ‘That’s Snowball, and you were holding Coal. The brown one is Calico, mama named him. They like to come here in the evenings so I can feed them.’

‘Did you bring food?’ the boy asked.

Cloud shook his head.

The boy leaned back on the bench, but didn’t say anything else.

Then there was a loud grumbling that came from the boy’s stomach. He flushed red, and looked defiantly at Cloud, as if daring him to say something.

‘Do you … do you want some milk too?’

‘I _hate_ milk,’ the boy shouted so angrily that Cloud stopped talking at all. He looked down at the thermos of milk that he had, and suddenly felt tears welling up in his eyes. He blinked, and concentrated on pouring the milk so he didn’t make a mess. When the cup was half full, he pushed it forward, and the cats came forward to drink the milk.

He pushed his face against his knees and tried not to sniffle. Hot tears trickled down his cheeks.

Then a shadow fell over him, and he looked up.

‘Sorry,’ the boy said. ‘I shouldn’t have yelled at you.’ 

‘Do you hate me?’ Cloud asked, his lower lip trembling.

‘No, I don’t hate you,’ the boy said. Then he sighed. ‘I don’t even know who you are, how could I hate you.’

‘I’m Cloud.’

‘I know you’re Cloud. I’m not a moron. Listen, I’m just … I just want to be left alone.’

‘But … this is my shed,’ Cloud said.

‘I don’t have anywhere to go,’ the boy admitted.

‘You can borrow my shed, I guess. But you have to ask permission.’

‘Fine,’ the boy said. ‘Can I please borrow your shed?’

‘OK,’ Cloud said, and brightened. ‘You can borrow it.’ He looked at the boy curiously. ‘Did you run away from home?’

The boy remained silent.

Cloud waited.

‘Fine, I did,’ the boy answered. ‘Don’t tell anyone, all right?’

‘But it’s a bad thing to do,’ Cloud said.

‘Listen here, you little shit,’ the boy scowled, and barked at Cloud. ‘Don’t tell anyone I’m here. If my father found out I’d be in shit loads of trouble.’

Cloud gasped. ‘You just said a bad word.’

‘I don’t give a flying SHIT,’ the boy said. ‘Now unless you have some food, can you please shut up?’

Cloud considered it. This boy said bad words but he was kind of cool. And mama said that he should always try to help his friends. ‘I can ask my mama for some food.’

‘No,’ the boy barked. ‘Don’t tell your mother.’

‘I won’t tell her then,’ Cloud said. He figured he could get his new friend some food. ‘I’ll be back, all right?’

‘No, wait. I’d rather you not, in case you get caught. You look like an idiot, you’d get caught almost immediately.’

‘I’m not an idiot!’ Cloud said, then felt angry tears well up in his eyes again. This boy was really mean to him, and Cloud didn’t like that but mama always told him to be kind and understanding. Maybe this boy was just so angry and if he had some food he wouldn’t be so angry anymore. And he would prove to this boy he wasn’t the I-word. ‘I’ll be back.’

He ran back to the house like there were wings on his feet. He burst back into the house. Cloud clambered back onto the chair, looked at his plate. Tonight was tomato and vegetable soup with buttered bread.

His mother leaned back from the sink to look at him. ‘Are you finally ready to finish your food, Mr. Strife?’

‘Yes, ma’am,’ Cloud said. Now how was he going to transport all his food back to the shed without his ma getting suspicious? ‘But may I take my food and eat it outside, please?’

‘No, you may not,’ his mother said. ‘I know what you’re up to, Cloud. You’re going to feed your dinner to the cats, aren’t you?’

‘I’m not!’ Cloud protested. ‘I’m going to eat all my food! But I want to eat with the cats!’

His mother looked at it, pursed her lips. ‘Eat your food here. Then I’ll give you some food for the cats.’

Cloud brightened. ‘Can I pick them from the snack box?’

Claudia sighed. ‘Cats shouldn’t be eating human snacks,’ she said.

‘They’re for me, mama!’ Cloud said. But he shoveled food into his mouth so quickly that his mother shook her head.

‘Slow down, darling.’

‘I just want to go back to the sheds to play with the catties,’ he said, with his mouth full.

Claudia sighed, and began packing up his food into a metal container, and folded more buttered bread into a kitchen towel. ‘Go on.’

Cloud gave her a cuddle around her midriff. ‘You’re the best mama!’

‘I know,’ she said, and laughed. ‘Go on. Come back before it gets dark.’

On the way out, he raided his snack box as well, grabbed his favorite glazed pretzels and corn chips.

When he proudly presented his entire stash to the boy, he did not get the reaction he was expecting.

The boy furrowed his brow. ‘Don’t tell me that’s cat food,’ he said suspiciously.

‘It’s not!’ Cloud was super offended. The boy was being soooo rude. ‘You can’t say that!’

‘I just did,’ the boy said, but took the bread that Cloud offered. He looked at the metal container. ‘Are these your leftovers?’

‘No,’ Cloud said quickly.

The boy shrugged. ‘I’d eat it anyway.’ And he did. He grabbed the spoon, shoveled the soup in his mouth and finished it all in four bites. He took the bread that Cloud split between them. He even ate the crusts that Cloud didn’t like.

‘Wow, you’re very hungry,’ Cloud said.

‘I left the house this morning,’ the boy said, then clamped his mouth shut, as if it had accidentally slipped out of him.

‘Why did you run away from home?’ Cloud asked curiously.

The boy shrugged. But he looked mad as he ate Cloud’s corn chips. ‘I hate my father.’

‘Why? What did he do to you?’ Cloud asked. He didn’t have a dad himself. It sounded mighty nice having a dad, but not if it wasn’t a very nice one.

The boy’s hand shot to his arm, as if he was trying to hide something.

‘It’s OK,’ Cloud whispered conspiratorially. ‘I won’t tell anyone.’

Very slowly, the boy lowered his hand. Cloud didn’t see anything, except small dots around the inside crook of his elbow. ‘What’s that?’

‘Syringe marks,’ the boy said.

‘What are singe marks?’

‘Syringe,’ the boy said again. ‘Needle. He keeps drawing blood from me.’

Cloud was horrified. ‘He’s taking your blood? Is he a vampire?’

The boy laughed like it was the funniest joke in the world. ‘I almost wish he was. No, the old bastard is taking my blood because apparently I have high concentration of alpha pheromones and he thinks I’m the key to developing an effective hormone inhibitor for his lab.’

Cloud had no idea what half of those words the boy said meant. He just figured out it was big adult stuff. ‘And that’s bad?’

‘Yes,’ he said, almost amused. ‘He’s what people call a mad scientist. I hate him. I hate him so much.’

‘Oh. Mama says I’m not supposed to hate anyone,’ Cloud said in a small voice.

‘Yeah? Well, if your dad was as bad as mine, you’d hate him too,’ the boy said.

‘Well, I don’t have a dad,’ Cloud said. ‘But … does this mean you’re going to stay in my shed?’

‘Yes. For tonight, at least. I’ll figure out what to do tomorrow.’

‘OK,’ Cloud said. ‘You want to come upstairs and sleep in my bed?’

The boy did a comical double-take. ‘You’re offering me your bed?’

‘Well, it has pillows and I have new Coco Cat Hero sheets on the bed,’ Cloud said. ‘We could share.’

The boy laughed. ‘You can keep your Coco Cat Hero. I’ll sleep here tonight.’

‘But … you don’t have a blanket.’

‘It’s summer,’ the boy shrugged. ‘I’ll survive. Just don’t tell anyone.’

‘OK,’ Cloud said, then realized the entire shed was covered in increasing darkness. ‘Oh, I have to get back to the house! I promised mama that I would get home before sunset. I’ll bring you breakfast tomorrow morning!’

‘No need,’ the boy muttered, but Cloud was already at the door.

‘Good night,’ Cloud said.

The boy sighed. ‘Night.’

Cloud ran back home and made it in just as his mama appeared was about to go to the door. ‘Cloud Strife, the thermos and my container?’

‘Ooopsy!’ Cloud said. ‘I’ll go get it, mama!’

‘Which direction are you going?’ Claudia called out. ‘The back door is behind you, darling!’

‘I’ve gotta go upstairs, do a pee! I’m busting.’ He ran upstairs, then did the world’s fastest piss in the toilet. Splashed water on his hands, and ran back downstairs with the Coco Cat Hero blanket. Halfway down the stairs, he dropped it, raced back upstairs to raid the tiny metal cabinet in the bathroom.

‘Why do you have a blanket?’ Claudia asked suspiciously.

‘Ummmmm, for the … catties!’ Cloud said. ‘My catties wanted to see Coco Cat Hero, and it will keep them warm tonight.’

‘No, Cloud.’

‘Just one night, please, ma,’ Cloud whined. ‘Please please please, mama!’

Claudia only rolled her eyes, wiped down the dinner table. ‘If you’re not back by the time I’m done wiping this up I’m locking the back door.’

‘Arghhhh!’ Cloud screamed, then bolted out the backdoor and raced to the shed. It was like he grew wings, that was how fast he ran out. He was a man on a mission, like Coco Cat Hero and the missions he had to do.

He flung open the shed door, tossed the blanket at the boy, who was now sitting in the corner, Calico and Coal in his lap. The blanket hit him in the face, and he said a very bad F word. Cloud took out the things in his pocket, dropped it by the boy, who looked down at it with bafflement.

‘What is this?’

‘Band aids,’ Cloud said. ‘For your singe marks. Mama says it will make me better when it hurts. I hope it doesn’t hurt you anymore.’ He swept up the metal container, the thermos. Then put it all down to stuff the kitchen towel in his pocket and picked it up again.

Just as he was about to exit, the boy said. ‘Hey. Cloud?’

Cloud looked up. ‘Yes?’

‘My name is Sephiroth,’ the boy said.

Cloud called out, ‘Good night, Sphere Rof!’ before running back into the darkness.

Cloud was up bright and early the next morning even though the night prior he had a lot of difficulty falling asleep. He kept thinking of his new friend, kept worrying about how he was, whether he was comfortable or happy through the night. He fell asleep thinking of what fun they would have playing in the meadows together. Cloud never had someone to play chasing with, since he didn’t have any friends.

They could feed the cats together, Cloud thought. Maybe he could convince his mama to adopt Sephiroth. Then they could be siblings together. Brothers. Cloud never had a brother before.

He brushed his teeth before bounding down the stairs with his Coco Cat Hero backpack over his shoulders.

It was still early, and the house was still and quiet. Cloud crept up to the fridge, opened it, and grinned. There was last night’s leftovers in neat containers, and the cold ham that he liked so much. There was a lot of it left, and he tossed it into the bag. He was sure that Sephiroth would appreciate that half-drunk bottle of purple soda that Cloud had opened then forgot two days ago. It was too bubbly and too spicy for him anyway.

He quietly undid the lock on the front door, pushed it open. Despite the warm summer nights, this morning was a little brisker than usual. Cloud shivered, and pulled on his shoes. He was in such a hurry that he hopped, skipped in his shoes before he had pulled them on properly.

He stopped in front of the shed, winded. Opened it to see Sephiroth sleeping on the floor, Cloud’s Coco Cat Hero blanket draped over his body curled on its side. The cats were nestled against his torso. When Cloud walked in, Sephiroth jolted awake. He sat up so quickly that Cloud took a step back, startled.

‘It’s just me, sorry,’ Cloud said. ‘I’m sorry for waking you up. I tried to be super quiet.’

Sephiroth was frozen for a moment, but recovered quickly. ‘Go away,’ he said grumpily.

Cloud instead took the opportunity to take a seat by his side, opened up his backpack. In it he pulled out gift after gift, tribute after tribute. The breakfast that he had put together, the purple soda. The Coco Cat Hero plush toy that held the place of honor by his bedside. He was quite certain that Sephiroth would be pleased.

He noticed the untouched bundle of band-aids on the bench. Cloud perked up. He knew how to apply them, his mother taught him a few times now. Very carefully he took one, gently peeled it open. Then very slowly, he pulled off the white plastic tabs on the sides and tried to put it on Sephiroth’s singe marks in his elbow.

Sephiroth slapped his hand away.

The band aid flew out of his grip, and Cloud looked up, startled to see Sephiroth staring at him with fury in his face.

Cloud knew anger. If his mother found out that he had drawn on the walls with marker, she got really mad. He didn’t like her being mad, because it meant that she would refuse to speak to him for a little while.

But no one had ever hit his hand like this.

Cloud’s tears welled up as he held his stinging hand to himself.

Sephiroth took one look at him, snarled even more angrily. ‘Are you crying again, you crybaby?’

Cloud sobbed. ‘You’re being mean!’

‘I don’t care,’ Sephiroth said. ‘Just leave me alone, you annoying little brat!’

‘I’m not a prat!’ Cloud said, even though he had no idea what the word meant. But it didn’t sound nice, and he didn’t like it. ‘I just wanted to put a bandage on your arm! It’s going to make you feel better.’

‘I don’t need it,’ Sephiroth said. ‘I’m a teenager now, I don’t need your childish and stupid little lies.’ He huffed, got to his feet. ‘I’m done with you. Don’t follow me.’

‘Where are you going to go?’

‘Anywhere but here,’ Sephiroth said, then stalked past Cloud. He was so mad that he gave Cloud’s Coco Cat Hero blanket one good kick, before stomping on it.

Cloud cried out, and leapt at the blanket to save it from Sephiroth. In the process, he misjudged his own strength, crashed straight into Sephiroth who was knocked off balance and tumbled down to the ground.

‘I’m sorry,’ Cloud said.

Sephiroth looked dazed for a moment, having had the back of his head smash against the cold hard wooden floor of the shed. ‘What the fuck,’ Sephiroth gasped.

Cloud jumped on him, tried to kiss the back of his head. He couldn’t, so instead he kissed his forehead instead and got another little slap for his efforts.

‘Get off me already!’ Sephiroth yelled.

Cloud obediently shifted to the side. ‘It was an accident,’ he said contritely. ‘I’m sorry.’

Sephiroth huffed, blew away the fringe of silver hair that was blocking his sight. ‘Goddamned it.’ He was pissed, but he wasn’t moving.

‘I just wanted to be friends,’ Cloud said in a small voice.

‘I don’t need friends,’ Sephiroth said, but this time in a far more measured tone. His temper had left as quickly as it had arrived. He knew there wasn’t any point being angry with a kid a whole seven years younger than himself. It wasn’t his fault that Sephiroth felt angry. Angry with his shitty father, angry with the world.

He didn’t know what prompted him to do it, but he surprised even himself when he reached out and touched Cloud’s hand. The kid was so trusting and naïve that he actually turned up his palm and held Sephiroth’s hand.

Cloud looked up at him with such … trusting eyes. Large pools of liquid blue in that gamine little face, with that ridiculous blond cowlick on top of his head. ‘I can be your friend.’

‘Fine,’ Sephiroth said with resignation. ‘We can be friends. Will you shut up already.’

‘All right,’ Cloud said. Waited a whole ten seconds before he spoke up again. ‘So why don’t you like your daddy?’

‘Fucking hell,’ Sephiroth said.

‘I don’t have a dad,’ Cloud said casually. ‘It’s very sad, you know. Sometimes at school my friends don’t know I don’t have a dad and they always say, “Your mama and daddy”, but I don’t have a daddy.’

‘Goddamned shit on a stick,’ Sephiroth continued.

‘Maybe you just need to tell him that you’re sad,’ Cloud suggested helpfully. ‘Maybe if he knew it was hurting you he would stop doing it. He loves you, right? All daddies love their children, that’s what mama always says. My daddy wasn’t in the picture, because he left a long time ago. But if he knew about me he would love me too.’

‘Shiva’s icy tits,’ Sephiroth said, and glared at Cloud. ‘You don’t know my dad. He’s a piece of work, and I hate him. I just wish my mother could take me away instead.’

‘Maybe you need to stop saying bad words,’ Cloud suggested. ‘I can help you wash your mouth out with soap.’

‘Being sassy, are we?’ Sephiroth asked.

Cloud furrowed his brow. ‘What is “sassy”?’

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Sephiroth began laughing at the incredulity of this conversation with this strange little four or five year old boy, who laughed with him despite not knowing what was so funny.

Sephiroth laughed until tears came out of his eyes, and he could no longer see clearly. This sweet but stupid little boy … all he wanted was to be friends with Sephiroth. He was generous without wanting something in return. Gave him band-aids, food, a blanket.

Oh, how he wished he could just live with this sweet but stupid kid. Would life be simpler? Would life be happier? Would it be less painful?

He squeezed his eyes at the thought of his father taking “samples” of blood from him. He was always shut up in his lab. Even on this supposed holiday that his mother had absolutely insisted his father take him on, apparently to see the famed mountains of Nibelheim, his father closed himself off in that stupid basement lab and Sephiroth was left alone.

Sick of being mistreated, sick of being neglected, Sephiroth walked out of the mansion.

There was nowhere in particular he wanted to go to, he barely knew this town after all. But he kept walking and walking, and night fell.

Then he realized he was lost, and had no idea how to get back to his father. He had just sought shelter at a little shed when he realized he had no way of feeding himself, or contacting his father. Or his mother, who had stayed back in Midgar.

He wanted to kill his father, and he wanted to kill himself.

Fuck, he missed his mother.

All of a sudden, the laughter suddenly stopped, and the tears of mirth became something else entirely.

And that stupid little kid actually had the temerity to wrap his skinny, thin arms around Sephiroth and hold on. Sephiroth buried his face in the kid’s sleeve, and cried.

Cloud felt so bad for Sephiroth. Which was probably why, during that evening after he had made sure Sephiroth had a nice meal of shark crackers and leftover chicken stew, he came back downstairs with an extra blanket.

There was someone ringing the doorbell, and Cloud opened the door.

He looked at the man standing in front of the door. In a suit like those businessmen on TV. ‘Hello,’ he said. ‘Are your parents home?’

‘Ma!’ Cloud shouted. ‘Someone’s at the door.’ He looked up at the man curiously. ‘Who are you?’

The man smiled, but that smile never reached his eyes. ‘I’m looking for someone. I was wondering if you’ve seen a twelve year old boy around this area the last couple of days.’

Cloud blinked even as his mother appeared behind him. ‘Hi, may I help you?’

‘Sorry. I’m going door-to-door. We have a missing boy, twelve years old. Have you seen him around?’

‘Oh dear,’ Claudia said, and stepped forward in concern. ‘No, I haven’t seen anyone at all. How many days has he been missing?’

‘About two days now,’ the man said. 

‘Are you his dad?’ Cloud said, almost angrily. ‘You’re a bad man. He hates you.’

Claudia gasped. ‘Cloud! Why would you say that?’ 

The man crouched down on one knee, looked at Cloud in the eye. ‘Do you know where Sephiroth is, little boy?’

‘I’m not gonna tell you.’

The man sighed. ‘I’m not his father. But I am his mother’s friend. I know Sephiroth very well. My name is Vincent.’

Claudia gripped Cloud’s shoulder. ‘If you know where the little boy is, you need to tell us now. He shouldn’t be out alone.’

Cloud remained stubbornly quiet.

‘Would you allow me to speak to him?’ Vincent asked. ‘I understand the situation between his father and Sephiroth, and I’m here on behalf of his mother. We know Sephiroth has been unhappy for a long time now, and his mother has come to take custody of him.’

‘He told me not to tell anyone where he is,’ Cloud said.

‘His mother is very worried about him,’ Vincent said. ‘Would you at least allow me to speak to him? If he doesn’t want me there, I’ll leave.’

‘Where is he, Cloud?’ Claudia asked, more urgently now. ‘Poor boy must be starving.’

‘He’s not, ‘cause I fed him. He’s with the catties.’

‘Cloud!’ Claudia said, horrified. ‘Come this way, Vincent. I’ll show you the shed.’

‘No, I have to tell him first!’ Cloud yelled.

Claudia swatted him on the bottom, hard enough to make him cry out in anger. ‘Get up to your bedroom now, Cloud, before you make more trouble!’

With that, they swept past him, and Cloud didn’t get a chance to warn his new best friend that he had been found. But he watched from his bedroom window as Vincent walked into the shed, closed the door behind him.

Nothing terrible occurred during the time he was in there, but they were in there for the longest time. Long enough for Cloud to worry that his new friend was now mad at him for breaching his trust. Long enough for Cloud to run past his mother, who failed to catch him, and burst into the shed while Sephiroth and Vincent were talking.

‘I’m sorry,’ he sobbed. ‘It’s my fault, I didn’t mean to say anything. Please don’t take him away. I’ll protect him. I’ll take care of him.’ 

Years later, Sephiroth could not recall the exact details.

He didn’t remember what really happened after that. He knew he left reluctantly with Vincent, but he could feel those chubby little arms strangling his waist, holding on to him for dear life. Telling him that he didn’t want Sephiroth to go.

He didn’t remember saying goodbye. But he did recall Cloud pressing that silly, threadbare little Coco Cat Hero blanket into his hands. He walked back to the mansion with Vincent, where he launched himself into his mother’s arms, and hearing her apologies for not protecting him better.

That blanket he had carried all the way back with him to Midgar, where he began his new life with his mother and Vincent. They ended up negotiating a new custody agreement where his biological father was prohibited from seeing him, and Vincent, with his easy patience and kind eyes, became his new father.

He held onto the blanket even when his mother died, when his entire life fell apart. He would clutch that thing and remember that sweetness and kindness that a little blond boy had once shown him. Looking back, he knew and understood that Cloud hadn’t done anything that had drastically changed Sephiroth’s life.

But something about that strange encounter had been imprinted in his mind. Even long after the blanket had been discarded, he still remembered that little boy. That was the moment when he learnt that no matter how ridiculous the notion was, he was worthy of being loved. Someone out there loved him and wanted him in their life.

Sephiroth became stronger, more resilient. He learned from his experiences that nothing could break him. He was meant to stand tall no matter whatever obstacle and difficulty thrown at him. Sometimes his mind would wander back to that little boy. He wondered what happened to him.

Hoped that he grew up, married well, lived happily. He deserved that much, at least.

He only knew that little Cloud Strife had saved his life during that short time they had spent together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you think I'd fallen off the face of the earth? No such luck, I'm afraid. 
> 
> I'm back with more of the same - more steroids, more melodrama. Sure you still want to come along????


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: dub-con

Rufus took a long drag of his cigarette, and blew it out slowly.

He was loath to admit it, but he had an unhealthy obsession with these mako cigarettes. It was an addiction, almost, except an addiction implied that there was something outside of his locus of control, something that compelled him beyond all willpower.

That, he could not accept. Because he already had one element in his life beyond his control, and that was one too many.

Rufus stared down at the man who was currently in front of him. Splayed wide, on his knees in the carpet, his head resting against the messy, disheveled bedspread. His wrists were bound together tightly with their now-ruined silk neckties, one tied to the next, and secured to the ornate bedpost. He was either asleep, or passed out. Rufus didn’t particularly care which it was, really.

Because after all, Rufus was the one who put him there.

Rufus leaned back in the armchair that he had pulled up close to the bed. He lifted his right foot, used his toes to stroke broadly against Tseng’s unmoving thigh. He made sure to keep his touch deliberately light and smooth. He didn’t want Tseng to wake up anytime soon, as he was quite sure Tseng needed the rest.

After all, it was no easy feat for an omega to take on an alpha in full rut. Let alone a beta male, who was clearly not cut out to do even close to what an omega could do.

And yet, Tseng performed beautifully. Admirably so, in fact. Rufus felt proud of him. The past three days had been brutal as he lost himself to his inner alpha. His entire sense narrowed into simple one instinct – to break, to conquer, to mate. It was a fire that could not be quenched, and his body drove to meet its objectives.

He hated every bit of it. Every second of it that he lost control, he hated himself for doing it. And yet he could not stop.

But now, as the haze was fully cleared, Rufus was becoming quite capable of grunting in more than animalistic sounds. The whole room smelled of his alpha pheromones, and sex. The bedsheets were irredeemably filthy, and it was beyond a salvageable state.

Tseng’s hair was matted to his scalp, and his body covered in a sheen of sweat. He smelled like rosewater since Rufus had dragged him into the bath the night before as he slowly emerged from the end of his rut.

Rufus kept his touch light, and yet Tseng flinched, and then lifted his head.

‘Go back to sleep,’ Rufus said.

Tseng’s gaze hardened. ‘You would like that, wouldn’t you?’

Rufus chuckled. ‘Yes, I would. You need the rest.’

‘You certainly didn’t care about my rest last night,’ Tseng snarled.

Rufus shrugged. ‘It’s harder for me to subsume my desires when I’m fast asleep. You’re a warm, soft body next to mine.’ Rufus finished his cigarette, stubbed it out in the cheap plastic ashtray. Pity a nice hotel suite like this didn’t see fit to provide better ashtrays, really. Perhaps he would mention it the next time he ordered room service.

He leaned closer to Tseng, and this time he could really smell him. Light, dried sweat, tempered by the sweetness of rosewater. The smell of sex, and semen. No pheromones, save for Rufus’s on him.

Just the way he liked it.

‘Let me go,’ Tseng said. ‘You’ve had your fun.’

‘Oh, I think you had fun too,’ Rufus said. ‘Last night you were the one who fucked yourself on my cock. I heard you moaning for me, like a cat in heat.’

Tseng flushed. ‘I would like to clean up and get dressed.’

‘Oh, Tseng,’ Rufus said, leaning in so close that he had his bare chest against Tseng’s shoulder. ‘Whatever would I do that for? I’m not done with you.’

He relished that instinctive fear and repugnance that flashed in Tseng’s steely dark gaze. ‘It’s been three days.’

‘You know, the thing about ruts is that they’re violent. Overwhelming. Aggressive. You should also remember that they are unpredictable. And we wouldn’t want you backing out of our deal now, would you?’

‘We didn’t have a deal,’ Tseng said. ‘Now untie me.’

‘Well, not an official contract, anyway,’ Rufus said, and lifted the plain envelope that he had on the bedside table. ‘Not like this one, isn’t that right?’

Now the ever indomitable Turk actually betrayed some panic. Although he masked it quite effectively, he had revealed himself in that split second. ‘What do you want?’

‘While you were snoozing away, I took the liberty of browsing through the contract. Very well drawn up, I have to say. Did my father actually get Legal to draft up this bullshit of a document?’

‘Vice President, this is—’

‘Oh, you really don’t have to explain it to me,’ Rufus said. Then he got up, stretched. Tossed the document onto the bed, just beyond Tseng’s reach. ‘Good work getting that heat-drunk omega to sign it, by the way. Very efficient of you.’

Tseng kept silent. His normally pale cheeks were tinged with a little bit of color.

‘One of your very best work, I assure you,’ Rufus said. ‘Now, I have just one question.’

‘Vice President—’

‘Shhh,’ Rufus said. ‘I’m talking. I know how you did it, and I even know why my father did it. My question is, _why_ did you do it?’

‘This is my job,’ Tseng said.

Rufus laughed. ‘Oh Tseng, don’t I fucking know it. But that’s not why I’m asking. My father, he’s a right cunt and I know that. His ploy of breaking up Romeo and Juliet is so transparent and lacking finesse that it makes me almost embarrassed for him. I know he likes taunting his little boy toy, but that’s my father for you. I wonder if he gets his jollies off fucking with Sephiroth.’

Tseng looked away.

Rufus gripped his chin hard, yanked it back to force Tseng to meet his eyes. ‘Let me clarify my question then. What did my father promise you in exchange for getting the omega whore to sign away his relationship?’

‘Nothing,’ Tseng said.

‘Liar.’ Rufus dropped to his knees just behind Tseng, snaked his hands over the man’s chest, and yanked him into his arms. Tseng stiffened, braced himself, but Rufus only kissed his exposed shoulder. ‘Liar.’ He leaned across the bed, reached for the envelope.

Tseng watched him, his panic clear now as he realized what Rufus was about to do. He deliberately drew out his actions as he reached for the lighter by his pack of cigarettes. He dropped onto the mattress, crossed his legs. ‘Vice Pres—’

‘What was it in exchange for, Tseng?’ Rufus asked calmly. He flicked the lighter, and watched as the little flame roared to life. With his other hand, he deftly opened up the envelope, discarded it. Held only the contract in his hand.

‘No, please—’ He had never seen Tseng like that. Less than perfectly put together, placid calm over the unruffled surface. This version of Tseng was desperate. Pleading.

The agony of the past three days must have taken its toll.

‘Then tell me.’ Rufus pushed the flame into the corner of the contract enough to singe just the very edge. ‘What did he promise you in exchange for getting this contract signed?’

‘He promised me that he would stop forcing you into marriage,’ Tseng said, his eyes brimming with an emotion Rufus had never ever seen before in his entire life. He didn’t know what it was. He was thrown by what it represented.

Rufus was so stunned that he actually moved the lighter away.

The room was silent except for their breathing.

‘I thought you didn’t care if I was married,’ Rufus finally said.

Tseng refused to answer. 

‘Do you have feelings for me, Tseng?’

‘No,’ Tseng shuddered out. ‘No.’

Rufus laughed, sighed. As if it was going to be that easy. ‘Listen to me, Tseng. I don’t need you to protect me. I don’t need you to do anything on my behalf. I can fight my own battles. All you need to do is just stay by my side. You are all I need.’

‘You sure have a poor way of showing it,’ Tseng said. Quietly, angrily. In a resentful manner. 

‘Would you have believed it otherwise?’ Rufus asked, and then lit the contract on fire. They both watched as the flimsy sheets of paper went up in flames.

There was nothing of it left. All of it had been curled up into ashes, and Rufus dropped it into the carpet. He idly stamped it out with his hotel slippers, and watched the devastation in Tseng’s eyes.

‘You don’t understand what you’ve just done,’ Tseng said.

‘I would argue the contrary,’ Rufus replied. ‘But that’s all right, because you don’t understand either.’ Again, he knelt down, knees on either side of Tseng. The beta was in an awkward position. His wrists were abraded from the restraints, and his legs curled under him. It was a difficult position to endure, but he never once complained.

Rufus stroked one finger, feathery light, across the nape of his neck. There, he had done countless damage. Bitten and bitten again to make a raised scar because a beta couldn’t permanently carry an alpha’s mark.

His finger drifted lower, and Tseng suppressed a shudder. There were faint imprints where his fingers had branded the pale skin, when he had pushed Tseng’s head into the mattress and proceeded to fuck him until he got off.

Lower, closer to that tapered, slim waist, where Rufus had pressed nipping, punishing kisses across the unblemished skin. In the dead of the night, where Rufus would curl his hand around to reach that spot, enclosing a sleeping Tseng in his embrace, because that was the only time he would not fight Rufus.

And lower still, around the tight cleft of his buttocks, the globes of flesh reddened by Rufus’s earlier slaps, which had forced only a quiet whimper out of Tseng. And in between his once tight hole now loosened by lube and the invasive penetration that Rufus had subjected him to, over and over again. It was loose and gaping, the muscles slack, as if ready for its next fuck.

Rufus stroked at the rim, and Tseng flinched only slightly. It must be hurting him. And yet, he never said a word.

But that was almost nothing compared to the abuse that Tseng’s cock had endured, for Rufus had twisted, stroked, gripped it time and again until the skin chafed slightly, and his orgasm was coming dry. He had wrung everything out of Tseng, and his body had simply surrendered. Given up.

Drenched under floods of pleasure until he was nothing but putty in Rufus’s hands.

And yet, even as his hands closed over Tseng’s cock, it jumped slightly. As if it had been well trained to the pleasure that it could receive. Tseng tilted his head back, pillowed it against Rufus’s shoulder even as Rufus worked up a slow but steady pace. ‘Please,’ Tseng said. Rufus wasn’t sure what he wanted to say. No? Yes?

Either way, it wouldn’t have stopped Rufus. He kept stroking, feeling the tender flesh in his hand harden. He worked at it until Tseng was panting, his chest heaving up and down in a bid for breath, and Rufus knew he had him.

‘Say my name,’ Rufus commanded.

‘Vice—’

‘Say it!’

Tseng closed his eyes, and Rufus could feel his hot breath against his cheek. He turned his nose into Tseng’s exposed neck, inhaled at that quietly earthy, beta scent that smelled of nothing.

‘Rufus,’ Tseng shuddered out, and a spasm wracked his body. He sagged in Rufus’s arms.

‘I am going to kill my father,’ Rufus said. ‘And then I’m going to take back my birthright. What I own. What I deserve. It doesn’t matter what my father tries to do to me. He’s done.’

‘Rufus,’ Tseng said. 

‘You belong to me,’ Rufus said quietly. ‘And I to you. No matter what you try to do to me. It doesn’t matter. I am yours. Always.’

Tseng closed his eyes, and Rufus wondered if it was in resignation or acceptance.

Rufus found out for himself that it was neither. Rufus awoke the next morning in an empty bed, a silent room.

Tseng was nowhere to be found.


	25. Chapter 25

_One month later_

Cloud arranged the last set of cutlery against the crimson napkin on the table, and headed back to the bar, where Tifa was wiping down the counters. ‘Done for the night,’ he said, and she smiled wanly at him.

It was way past midnight and the Friday night dinner crowd had been absolutely brutal. There had been a large group who had come in for a birthday party celebration, and they hadn’t been big spenders, but big whiners instead. One demanded that his salad wasn’t warm enough, and another kept asking for water to dilute the alcohol when the sensible thing to do would have been to stop drinking.

Cleaning up had taken a little longer than usual, and then by the time he had reset the entire dining room at the Seventh Heaven bar and restaurant, the chef had already gone home for the night. As the proprietor and owner, Tifa Lockhart was just finished with reconciling the cash and accounts.

The place was spick and span again, and Cloud just wanted to crawl up to the little apartment above the bar and sink into his bed. Honest work was hard and demanding, but he loved every moment of it. Knowing that as every hour passed, he was earning small, but clean money.

After he left Sephiroth’s, he never went back to the downtown apartment. Everything he ever owned was on him or in his bag anyway. He ended up crashing at a halfway house for the first evening, and the next day, set out to find a job. He deliberately entered a sector that was far away from Sephiroth’s Sector 1 luxurious apartment or the opulent mansion in Sector 3.

He stopped in front of a bar restaurant that had a _help wanted_ sign on it. It also asked for prior experience as a waiter, in which he had none. He had been a deliveryman at some point before all the whoring, but he wondered if the owner could look past it. Even so, he had to try.

He had just mustered enough courage to take a step forward when there was a feminine, familiar voice behind him. ‘Cloud?’

Cloud turned to see a beautiful brunette.

‘Oh my goodness, it is you, Cloud Strife! I’d recognize those blond spikes anywhere!’

‘Tifa?’ Cloud said, and his mind triggered an entire avalanche of memories growing up with his wonderful friend. They had lost touch shortly after Cloud had arrived in Midgar, having been entirely occupied with earning money to pay for his mother’s medical fees. ‘It’s so good to see you again,’ he said with genuine warmth.

After everything that had happened, the last thing he expected to see was a warm face again. 

‘So what are you doing here?’

Cloud gestured to the help wanted sign. ‘I’m looking for a job.’

Tifa looked startled for a moment, then laughed. ‘Well, guess what. I own this joint.’

Cloud smiled wanly at Tifa. ‘Does that mean I get a leg up for the interview?’

‘It means that if you want this job, it’s yours,’ Tifa laughed. ‘I need someone reliable, Cloud. My last waitress was a flake.’

‘I’m a hard worker and I’ll do anything,’ Cloud said. ‘My schedule is flexible and I can work whenever, whatever.’

‘The job’s yours if you want it,’ Tifa said. ‘The pay’s a bit low, but—’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Cloud said quickly. It really didn’t, even if he hadn’t intended to make use of all that ridiculous money sitting in his account.

He had been contemplating what to do with the money when he received another 1.5 million in his account. The settlement money from his ownership of the Nibelheim land had come through. Cloud had laughed dryly at the irony of it all. He had been unhappy when he had been penniless, and he was still unhappy when he was rich. Money didn’t make a difference.

The only time he had been happy was with Sephiroth – but that had been so fleeting it must as well have been a dream. And maybe it was. A beautiful one.

Waking up from it had hurt.

He had withdrawn the two million deposited by President Shinra. He wondered what to do with it. He didn’t care what happened to it, but he didn’t want to touch even a single gil. So he made a donation under his mother’s name to a medical research foundation in hopes that one day, he could save someone else from the same heartache that had been inflicted on him when his mother got sick.

The third million … he withdrew it into a check. Mailed it back to Sephiroth’s apartment address, which he had memorized. All he wanted to do was pay Sephiroth back for the debt he had cleared. No one had asked him to do so, and it was an incredibly generous thing to do. He had bought Cloud’s freedom.

Cloud could never repay him no matter what he did. So he hoped at least the monetary aspect was repaid. The debt of kindness, however… It was what it was.

The rest of the five hundred thousand was a security net for himself until he found his feet. It was more money than he ever had in his life, and it was enough.

After he got the job and promised he would be back that evening for the dinner shift, he set out to find a place. But Tifa taught him that ordinary kindness was still possible, even for someone like him who had chosen to betray the man he loved rather than come clean. She mentioned that she had a tiny studio apartment over the bar, and it was his at a subsidized rent if he wanted it.

He took it. It was nothing fancy, but it was clean and well-maintained. He wanted to shed tears of gratitude, but pride didn’t allow him to. Instead, he just accepted it gracefully and said thanks.

Working at the bar was really hard work. He was the sole wait staff, and Tifa the sole bartender. But he was a quick learner and it took him all of a week to gain some balance and fall into a predictable but exciting rhythm. The first few nights at his new place, he memorized the menu, over and over again so that it was all he dreamt of at night.

So instead of remembering that silver hair, that seductive smirk, he dreamt of steak and fritters, single malt whiskeys and chocolate brownie topped with vanilla ice cream.

And at the end of the first month, when he received the meagre paycheck …

He laughed and then cried and then laughed all over again. Clutched the paycheck in his hot little hands, hid it under his pillow.

‘Good night, Cloud,’ Tifa said as she locked up the bar restaurant for the night, and left for her own home.

‘Night,’ Cloud said, and stood there huffing the cold night air.

He stood there for a little while, eyeing the stars in the inky night sky. The street was mostly empty, with the last of the stragglers staggering home slowly after a particularly raucous Friday evening. He didn’t mind being alone. But coming off the back of an intense relationship where many of his waking hours was spent in his lover’s company meant the withdrawal took its toll.

With a heaviness in his heart, he trudged up the side of the building and onto a set of steeply cut steps and into the little studio that he rented from Tifa. It was home for now.

He took a quick shower to get rid of the grime and grease, and settled into bed. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep at all, even if it meant that he was falling asleep on a pillow wet with tears.

Then in the late morning, he woke up. His pillow was as dry as ever. He blinked at the bright sunlight, glad that the cold loneliness of the night always disappeared by morning. Went for a run around the block. Showered, got dressed and got ready for the lunch shift. And it turned out, there were quite a few surprises in store for him that particular Saturday.

Two men sat at one of the bar. Both were tall men, but they were very distinctive from each other. The redhead with that ridiculous horse tail of his was swigging from a beer, while the bald man with shades on indoors was nursing a martini.

Cloud narrowed his eyes, stifled the urge to punch a hole through the redhead’s face. He went behind the bar, began to settle into his shift. He slowly washed his hands, grabbed his notebook and checked the lunch specials today. Said hello to the kitchen crew, then walked out to the bar.

Reno lifted his arm. ‘Yo.’

Cloud flashed a stony look at him. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Keeping an eye on you,’ Reno said. ‘Wanted to make sure that you’re OK.’

Cloud snorted incredulously. Then he turned on his blank face. ‘What can I get for you today?’ he asked in a monotone, careful not to reveal too much of his own feelings in the process.

‘How are you doing, Cloudy?’

Cloud wanted to laugh. Instead, he looked down at his notepad, holding his pen at the ready. Refused to answer the question, and waited patiently.

Reno shrugged. ‘All right then. Could I have a dozen of those buffalo wings? Extra hot?’

‘ _Extra_ hot?’ the other man asked, doubt in his voice.

‘You’re right. Get me some mild spicy, and Rude here can have extra hot. Throw in some cottage fries too.’

Cloud dutifully scribbled it all down. ‘Anything else?’

‘A glass of milk,’ Rude said.

Reno took a sip of his beer. ‘Looks like you’ve landed a nice gig yourself,’ he said.

Cloud clicked his pen irritably, tucked it into his pocket. ‘Won’t be a moment.’ He turned on his heel, more than eager to walk away.

‘One more thing,’ the bald man said. ‘I want to know if your boss is single,’ the bald man said. 

Cloud rolled his eyes, and walked away. He returned to the kitchen, where the chef was still prepping. The lunch shift hadn’t begun, and Rude and Reno were their only two customers for now.

‘Why’d you let those yahoos in here before the restaurant’s opened?’ Cloud asked irritably.

Tifa shrugged. ‘The tall one’s kind of cute. Also, they mentioned that they were friends of yours.’

‘Not friends,’ Cloud said, appalled. ‘The last thing from that, actually. What do they want?’

‘They want food, and drinks,’ Tifa said, then nudged Cloud. ‘Now what did they actually order?’

Cloud rattled off their orders, and put the notebook down.

‘Straighten your back up, man!’ the chef said. ‘I don’t ever want you bringing that mopey ass face of yours into my kitchen. Now, tell me why you hate these shitheads and I’ll destroy them with my hot sauce.’

Cloud sighed. ‘Thanks, Barret. But no thanks. I just want them to eat, and leave. And no offense, Tifa, but I hope they never come back.’

‘Well, I don’t know if I agree with you on that,’ Tifa said, then sighed. ‘He sure is a tall drink of water.’

Cloud pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘If it helps he asked me if you were single.’

Tifa brightened. ‘We’ll see,’ she said. ‘If you don’t like them, it’s for a reason. Does it have anything to do with that ex of yours?’ Tifa probed. While she was aware he had come off a breakup, she wasn’t aware of the details, and especially who he had been seeing. It was best to keep it that way. The history was in the past; best he leave it there.

‘It’s … complicated,’ Cloud began, but Tifa sympathetically patted him on his back. She had always been a good friend. He was grateful that during his time of need, fate had sent him a friend. As if to prove her usefulness, she shooed him away.

‘I got them,’ Tifa said. ‘Have a rest in here before the crowd comes through for lunch.’

‘You just want to flirt with Rude,’ Cloud said.

Tifa shrugged, but there was a cheeky glint in her eye. ‘Why not?’ she said innocently. ‘He is, after all, a very good looking man. If there’s anything terrible about him, I need to know it now.’

Cloud thought about it. ‘Not him. His … friend.’

Tifa clapped her hands together. ‘That’s wonderful, then.’ She poured out a glass of milk, and swung out of the kitchen with a sway to her hips.

Cloud sighed, and perched his hip against the spotlessly clean stainless steel counters. Barret watched him carefully eyeing him as he drenched his wings into a wet batter, then breadcrumbs. ‘You OK there, blondie?’

‘I’m fine,’ Cloud said.

‘Looking a bit peaky there,’ Barret said.

‘You would too,’ Cloud said. ‘If you just saw the two idiots at the bar. I’m just tired, Barret.’

‘Well, better perk up,’ Barret grinned at him. ‘The Saturday shift is what we call relentless around here.’

Cloud grimaced. ‘I know, I’ve been here for a month now. You don’t have to worry about me.’

‘You never know,’ Barret shrugged. ‘Skinny little twigs like you break under hard work.’

Cloud wrinkled his nose. ‘Why don’t you try me, you old fart.’

And he did his best to try to prove Barret wrong. He worked tirelessly through the lunch shift, mindfully ignoring Reno and Rude until they left. They must have still keeping tabs on him, which was more annoying than he thought.

But it didn’t matter. There was no longer anything between him and Sephiroth. It was over for the both of them.

Towards the middle of the dinner shift, there was another surprise waiting for him. This time, a more pleasant one.

‘Zack, Aerith!’ he said, with some unexpected and surprised cheer. ‘It’s so good to see you again!’

Aerith enveloped him in a warm hug, while Zack enthusiastically clapped him on the back. ‘Yo, Spikey,’ Zack said warmly.

‘What brings you around my neck of the woods?’ Cloud asked.

Zack pressed a kiss to Aerith’s temple. ‘My beautiful girlfriend finally got a break from the triplets tonight.’

‘A well-earned one,’ Aerith said cheerfully.

‘Come on, guys. You got here just in time, our best table just freed up.’

‘I knew that we were friends for a reason,’ Zack grinned, and gave Cloud a high-five which was reciprocated.

Cloud worked especially hard to make sure Aerith and Zack were happy with their dining experience. After all, it had been them who had chosen to reach out to him first within the first week of Cloud’s breakup with Sephiroth.

Aerith had frequently texted and called him to make sure he was all right, while Zack had met up with him a few times since then. They’d have a quiet beer while talking about everything other than Sephiroth. It was him who had dropped by container after container of food that Aerith had made – everything from pickles to stewed chicken to fruit pudding.

Cloud could barely muster up an appetite, but still, when there were at least those containers in the fridge, he dutifully ate them. 

At the end of the night, as Zack settled the bill at the bar, saying a friendly hello to Tifa, Cloud went by their table. The night was winding down, and he for one could not be more grateful. His feet were sore, and he just wanted to slide facedown onto a bed.

Aerith stood, enveloped him in a hug. ‘Shall we do lunch sometime next week? I have a couple hours free in the mornings, especially once the boys are at school.’

‘Of course,’ Cloud said. ‘It’s always nice to see you guys again.’ And he meant it. He saw them to the door, waved at them until they drove away in that snazzy red convertible that belonged to Aerith, apparently a Yule gift a few years ago from Sephiroth.

Cloud went back into the restaurant to clean up the rest of finished tables. Most of the customers were already done for the night, either enjoying their after-dinner coffees or desserts. Cloud gathered dishes, ferried them to the kitchen, and wiped down tables. Once the last of the customers had paid and left, he began resetting the restaurant, with fresh napkins and cutleries, ready for Sunday lunch tomorrow.

By the time he was done it was past midnight. Tifa must have seen how tired he was, and sent him home first.

His feet were dragging, and he was never gladder of the fact that he only lived upstairs. He ducked around the side of the building, only to freeze right in front of the steep flight of stairs that led to his front door.

There was someone waiting for him there.

Sitting at the top in the dim darkness, quiet as a little ghost, was a little boy, a spitting image of his silver-haired father. He was leaning against the brick wall, eyes closed. Fast asleep.

And yet, out of sheer shock, Cloud exclaimed, ‘Kadaj!’

That single word in the quiet of the night roused the boy, and he opened his eyes, almost jumped at the sight of Cloud. ‘Cloud,’ he said, almost excitedly, before realizing he sounded too excited. ‘Cloud,’ he said again, but this time like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.


	26. Chapter 26

‘Kadaj, what on Gaia are you doing here?’ Cloud said, then took the stairs two at a time until he was right in front of the boy, and knelt down. Of all the surprises today, this was the most bizarre.

Kadaj eyed Cloud for a moment, and he seemed reticent enough that Cloud sighed, and stuck his keys in the lock. ‘Come on in, kid.’ He wasn’t entirely sure about Kadaj’s personality, but he at least knew that he had somehow inherited his father’s quiet confidence.

The little boy walked into Cloud’s apartment, turned up his nose at the size of it, most likely. He went over to the threadbare little couch. ‘Where’s your TV? I’m hungry.’

‘I don’t have a TV,’ Cloud said wryly. ‘Would you like a drink? I have … milk. Water?’

‘Juice?’

‘No juice,’ Cloud said. He flipped through the pantry. ‘How about some …’

‘Coffee?’ Kadaj said. ‘My dad drinks coffee.’

Cloud scowled. ‘I’m not going to give a five year old coffee.’

‘I’m six!’ Kadaj said, utterly offended. ‘Our birthday was two weeks ago.’

Ignoring the annoying six year old child, Cloud reached for the small tin of hot chocolate that Aerith had given him the last time they met. It was still sealed, but there was no better time to crack it open. ‘Well, happy birthday.’

He put the kettle on the boil, and brought out a pack of cookies. Kadaj wasted no time in scouting out his enemy’s territory. He touched Cloud’s simple bed, the little knick knacks on the kitchen counter. Opened and closed his bathroom cabinets, poked around in the linen closet.

Cloud brought a plate of cookies and a mug of hot chocolate to the bedside table, and motioned for Kadaj to join him on the bed. He waited until the boy was destroying his second cookie before he started asking his questions. ‘Why are you here, Kadaj?’

‘I was looking for you,’ Kadaj mumbled around his cookie.

‘Why is that? Does your dad even know that you’re here?’ Cloud said, picking up a third cookie and giving it to the boy.

‘My dad doesn’t know,’ Kadaj said, a devilish glint in his eyes, as mischief suddenly overtook his hunger and reticence. ‘We put pillows on my bed and covered it in a blanket. If dad asks, Loz and Yazoo know what to do. Lately he’s always in his office anyway.’

‘How did you get here?’

Kadaj laughed cheekily, even as he spat out crumbs. Cloud absently swept them away from the boy’s shirt. ‘I hid in the back of Aerith’s car with Aerith’s blankie over me. It was like an invisibility cloak. I stayed very still, like a mouse. A quiet little mouse.’ He was so proud of himself Cloud could barely bring himself to tell him off.

‘So you snuck into Aerith’s car with the express intention of coming to see me?’ Cloud asked. ‘How did you even know they were coming?’

‘Yazoo heard them talking in the kitchen this morning,’ Kadaj said. ‘Quietly, like shh-shh. Every time grownups start talking in shh-shh I know it’s something kids are not supposed to hear. So Yazoo listened. And then he told us.’

Cloud considered the ingenuity and ridiculousness of this plan hatched up by the triplets. Cloud had vastly underestimated the children – he had merely thought them selfish, spoilt brats prone to getting their own way. Smart, overprotective, and hostile to outsiders.

But clearly not. There was a spark in Kadaj that Cloud had never seen before until now. So he laughed. He had to laugh. It was all a little too crazy. ‘Oh, Kadaj. And when you got here you … just waited for me?’

‘I hid in Aerith’s car. And then I jumped out like a crazy spy. I saw from the window that you were working in there, so I had to wait. For Aerith and Zack to leave. But I guess I fell asleep.’

‘Wasn’t the car locked?’

‘Um, I dunno,’ Kadaj said. ‘But her car doesn’t have a top. Aerith likes to keep the top off to feel the wind because she says she is a bit of a latefoot.’

‘A what?’ Cloud frowned.

‘A latefoot. She said the last time she drove like a latefoot she got tickets for peeding,’ Kadaj said again. He took a sip of his drink, and blanched. ‘It’s too hot!’ 

‘Ah, _lead foot_ , you mean,’ Cloud said, handing him another cookie. ‘And it’s _speeding_.’ 

‘Yes,’ Kadaj said, spraying crumbs over the both of them. ‘That’s what I said.’

Cloud walked over to the kitchen, grabbed a small spoon for Kadaj’s hot chocolate. ‘So why have you come for me, Mr. Kadaj?’

All the goodwill seemed to evaporate out of Kadaj, and his mouth snapped shut. ‘I didn’t,’ he said.

‘You just said you did,’ Cloud said. ‘Kadaj, don’t start lying to me now.’

Kadaj stubbornly kept his mouth shut.

Cloud poked the kid in his ribs. The giggle that tumbled out of the kid surprised Cloud, so he drilled his finger in further. ‘Tell me.’

‘No,’ Kadaj said.

Cloud poked him until he surrendered. The words bubbled out of Kadaj. ‘We … I … I wanted to find out. Why you left.’

Then suddenly all the merriment stopped when Cloud released the boy. ‘What did you say?’

In the smallest voice possible, Kadaj said, ‘We didn’t know why you left. You didn’t tell us why. Was it us? Was it … me?’

‘ _What_?’

‘You left daddy,’ Kadaj finally admitted. ‘And daddy was not happy. Aerith said that he was sad. Zack said that he was nosing a broken heart.’ The little boy turned morose. ‘He just seems so angry all the time. We tried to make him feel better, but nothing’s working.’

Kadaj looked indignant. ‘And daddy was so sad he didn’t even remember our birthday! Aerith had to buy the presents and make the cake, when daddy forgot. She said it was from dad but we know he forgot. And maybe we thought you left because of us. And if we promise to behave and not be so nasty then maybe you could come back.’

Cloud pulled the boy into his arms and felt a sharp pang in his heart. It was all so complicated. When Cloud chose to leave Sephiroth, he hadn’t thought the consequences would ripple out in unexpected directions.

He had made the choice, and he was content to live with the pain he had caused. But he hadn’t wanted to hurt anyone else. Sephiroth, that was a given. An unfortunate casualty, perhaps. But not his children.

‘No, Kadaj,’ Cloud began. ‘No. You’ve got it all wrong. This … is between your father and me. It had absolutely nothing to do with you or your brothers. None of it is your fault.’ How did he even began to explain the reasons for the breakup? He couldn’t, not really. ‘I just … had to leave because we wanted different things. That’s all. I know your dad is sad, but … if you give him a little time he’ll be happy again.’

‘Are you sad too?’ Kadaj asked.

Cloud smiled.

Then he stopped smiling as soon as Kadaj dropped his head against Cloud’s chest.

It hurt too much to smile.

‘I’m tired,’ Kadaj said quietly, a half-eaten cookie still in his hand.

‘Then sleep,’ Cloud said.

Kadaj raised his head. ‘You’ll take me home tomorrow?’

Cloud shushed him. ‘Go to sleep.’

He waited until Kadaj began snoring against his chest. Cloud maneuvered him onto the bed, pulled the blanket over him. He composed himself, then pulled out his phone. Flicked through his contacts list before remembering he had deleted Sephiroth’s contact.

But it still didn’t matter. He knew the numbers by heart. After all, the first time Sephiroth had written down his number on the sticky note, Cloud had taken a look at it and memorized it. It was the phone number of his savior. The man he felt beholden to.

He had somehow, at some point, become the man Cloud loved.

But it was all in the past. He steeled himself, dialed the number.

And was not surprised when his first call when unanswered. Sephiroth had probably debated on rejecting or answering his call when it rang out. Cloud was just about to dial again when Sephiroth’s number lit up on his mobile screen.

‘Hello?’ Cloud said.

There was a short silence on the other end. ‘How can I help you?’ Sephiroth’s voice was so cold that it was almost glacial. Cloud had never once heard it directed at him before, and something inside of him shrunk and flinched.

But he looked at the sleeping boy in his bed, and sighed. And then he spoke, explained the situation in a calm, indifferent manner.

To Sephiroth’s credit, he remained unruffled despite Cloud telling him that his six year old son was now halfway across the city in the wee hours of the morning, asleep in his ex-lover’s bed. It was a bizarre situation, but Sephiroth said that he would be there in thirty minutes.

Cloud took opportunity of the lull to clean up. He tossed the unfinished hot chocolate, put away the uneaten cookies. Did his best to tidy up the crumbs without waking Kadaj up.

He sighed. All he wanted after the weekend shift was just to shower and sleep. He looked at the clock on the wall. Plenty of time for him to take a shower. At least that meant once Sephiroth picked up his son Cloud could just hit the sack.

He showered quickly just to wake himself up, and changed into a clean pair of clothes. Five more minutes. He sat on top of the stairs, waited for Sephiroth to arrive as Kadaj had waited for him.

A black convertible pulled up to the curb in front of the restaurant, the muted screech of tires rousing Cloud from his drowsing. He heard the slam of a car door, and then the tall, dark figure appear in the skinny alleyway leading to his unit upstairs.

Even in the dimness of the street light, there was no denying the handsome, sharp angles of the man’s face. Despite the time of the night, he still seemed impeccably dressed. His waistcoat and pants were slate grey, perfectly tailored to his body. The poor lighting made the colors of his hair and suit nearly identical. He looked like he had just gotten off work, like how he had done so long ago.

And he had, once upon a time. It seemed like a lifetime ago now.

That evening, Sephiroth had returned a little earlier than usual. He had said that he finished work early, but he had a late dinner appointment somewhere in Sector 2.

Cloud pressed a small glass of whiskey into his hand before joining him on the couch.

Sephiroth curled his arm around Cloud, pulled him in so close that Cloud could see the fine fabric of his waistcoat. The sleek cut of the coat emphasized the man’s trim but muscular figure, and the buttons a gleaming black. Cloud inhaled, and the fragrance of the man’s cologne and alpha pheromones filtered through, as did the faint grassy smell of the mako-laced cigarettes.

Sephiroth had been resting his eyes when Cloud inched upwards, pressed dainty kisses on his chest, across his exposed collarbone from his unbuttoned shirt. He didn’t move, but allowed Cloud free roam over his torso. There was the tiniest of a sly smile playing around those lips, as if he was amused by Cloud’s boldness.

In his past occupation, Cloud had never hesitated to put his mouth on various erogenous zones of a stranger’s body. But gifting light little kisses in flirtation with no end outcome in mind was something he had never really done until he met Sephiroth. In that way, he felt as shy as a virgin emboldened by the attentions showered on him by a man who regularly made love to him like it was his last fuck in this world.

Cloud kissed the man’s chin, and then looked up, only to see Sephiroth’s eyes boring into his. He chuckled when Cloud trailed off in embarrassment. ‘Why are you stopping?’

‘Because you’re staring at me,’ Cloud said. ‘It’s mortifying.’ 

Sephiroth laughed. ‘You are perfectly enchanting. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.’

And at that moment, Cloud genuinely thought they were tumbling down the slippery slide of love. Racing towards each other, arms opened to embrace their fate. And that it was all right to do so.

Well, perhaps it was a lucky thing that Cloud managed to put a stop to it before they landed on their asses. Lost in a love that would save no one, least of all themselves.

He had done the right thing.

He didn’t know if it was the intense fatigue or the frustration of being alone or that simply his walls had been worn down tonight, but this was the first time he felt a haunting sense of regret.

Like a fallen angel rising from the shadows, Sephiroth spotted Cloud and walked towards him. He stopped right at the foot of the stairs, and looked up. Those piercing green eyes gleamed in the dark, nailing Cloud to the wall with its intense stare. Cold and merciless, he looked at Cloud like he was nothing.

Nothing, and no one.

An eternity passed before one of them even spoke.

‘Cloud,’ Sephiroth said, his voice as cold as ever.

‘Sephiroth,’ Cloud said.


	27. Chapter 27

Sephiroth walked up the stairs to join him.

Cloud stood up, turned his profile to the man so he didn’t have to look at Sephiroth in the eye. ‘This way,’ he said. ‘Kadaj is sleeping quite soundly.’ He held his breath almost so he didn’t have inhale that lethal combination of cologne and pheromones that he had been so familiar with and yet hadn’t been exposed to for nearly two months now.

Sephiroth followed him at a respectable distance, only stopping to kneel down by the bed. He carefully lifted his son in his arms and walked out of the unit without exchanging another word with Cloud.

Cloud didn’t lie to himself. He was very tempted to shut the door as soon as they left, but he felt some civility and courtesy was at least necessary, so he in turn followed at a distance and watched as Sephiroth gently unloaded his son into the backseat.

Then all hell broke loose.

Kadaj sprang upright and screamed. ‘No! No! Cloud promised that I could stay the night at his house!’ he sobbed incoherently, probably overwrought from the excitement of the night and overwhelming fatigue. He was only six years old, after all.

He fought his father with skinny flying limbs and Sephiroth was forced to restrain his son in his arms until he was practically bear-hugging the boy. ‘Kadaj!’ Sephiroth growled.

Cloud felt no choice but to intervene, especially when Kadaj’s arms were now flailing towards him, tears streaming down those eyes. ‘Kadaj, please,’ Cloud began. ‘Why not … why don’t you return to your home tonight, with your father? He was very worried about you.’

‘You promised that I could stay and go home tomorrow,’ Kadaj cried.

‘I … really didn’t,’ Cloud said. ‘But—’

‘You’re not allowed to stay out with Cloud,’ Sephiroth said angrily in frustration. ‘It’s time to go home.’

‘Please, Cloud,’ Kadaj pleaded. ‘Please come with me.’

Cloud sighed. He just wanted to close his eyes and be done with all this juvenile drama. And yet, a small part of him felt terrible. ‘Kadaj, please. Is there anything else I can do for you instead?’

‘Come with us,’ Kadaj said. ‘And if you come home with us I’ll be good and go to bed. And I won’t cry and shout anymore.’ He looked to his father, a pathetic plea in his eyes.

Sephiroth looked as tired as Cloud felt. It was now nearly two in the morning after all. The fatigued father finally relented, and glanced at Cloud, although it must be said that he avoided his eyes entirely. ‘If you do not mind, I can bring you back once he is asleep.’ His tone bordered on excessive politeness.

Cloud ducked his head. ‘Let me grab my phone and keys,’ he said. Sephiroth quietly buckled his son into the backseat. Cloud pocketed his things, then locked the door. Hadn’t even bothered to change out of his sweater and loose pants. He walked up to the car, and tellingly, slid into the backseat rather than the front.

He drowsed against the headrest with the comforting weight of Kadaj’s heavy head and gentle snores against his arm.

They arrived at the magnificent estate that belonged to Sephiroth. Cloud never thought he would lay eyes on that mansion again, not in this life. Sephiroth smoothly guided the car past the high, impenetrable electronic gates and pulled up to the front of his palatial home.

He turned off the engine. Sephiroth opened the door, and gently embraced his son. Kadaj’s head was already lolling onto his shoulder. ‘Would you like to come in …?’ Sephiroth asked, so politely that Cloud almost flinched.

‘No … I’m fine,’ Cloud answered, equally politely. The warning that Sephiroth gave him the last time they had spoken still resounded in his head.

‘If you give me ten minutes, I will be down to take you home.’

Cloud nodded.

He waited until Sephiroth disappeared into his home when he turned his back on it, began walking to the open gates. The last thing he really wanted was to be in the same car as Sephiroth, without the bracing presence of Kadaj. In fact, the last thing he had really wanted was to see Sephiroth at all.

He sped-walked out of the gates, got as far as to the end of the silent street before he opened up his phone, dialed for a taxi. He looked up at the headlights shining his way.

Sephiroth had already pulled up next to him.

‘Please get in.’

‘I’m fine,’ Cloud said. ‘I already called a taxi. It should be here soon. Besides, I think it’s best if you stay with your children. Kadaj seemed very tired, and he might wake up upset.’

‘Get in.’

‘No,’ Cloud said shortly. ‘I don’t need to be dropped off. I’m fine, thank you.’

‘Get in the car!’ Sephiroth snapped, and it was so uncharacteristic of him that Cloud was cowed into opening the door, dropping sullenly in the front seat. He buckled on his seat belt, looked out the window at the grainy darkness.

No matter how much he told himself not to fall asleep, leave himself in a vulnerable state in front of this ex to whom he had done such terrible things, it was way past midnight, way past his bedtime. After an entire day’s work of a busy weekend shift, his lids couldn’t help but crash close. He leaned his temple against the window screen and snoozed quietly.

He hadn’t even known when the car had stopped.

It was only when he realized he was home when he felt the idling vibrations and the lack of motion. He opened his eyes, sleepily shifted his body and leaned his head towards Sephiroth’s broad shoulder. ‘Just a minute more,’ he murmured, and instinctively slipped his hand into Sephiroth’s like he used to do when they sat in front of the electric fireplace at the apartment.

His breathing evened out before he realized what he had done. He bolted upright, looked around at the darkened streets around them. ‘Shit,’ he said awkwardly, and immediately let go of their joined hands.

‘It’s fine,’ Sephiroth said, but his voice seemed oddly uncertain, like he had been thrown off course.

‘Thanks for the ride,’ Cloud said, and he got out of the car so quickly the entire world spun with him. His stomach dropped, and his head spun crazily. He staggered blindly against the car and death-gripped it with his hands, suddenly too afraid that he would fall down to the ground and make an ass of himself.

‘Are you all right?’ Sephiroth asked as he came around the car.

The world slowly righted itself, and Cloud shakily straightened up. ‘I’m fine,’ he said. He just wanted to get home, get into bed. There was nothing more he wanted than to close his eyes.

He slowly made his way to the door, jammed the keys into the lock. Then rather belatedly, realized that he was still dizzy. He crashed to one knee, fumbled blindly for the light.

‘You’re not fine,’ Sephiroth said from behind him as he hauled him upright.

Cloud wrenched his arm out of Sephiroth’s grip. ‘I’m fine,’ he snarled. ‘Listen, as much as I appreciate you dropping me home, I’m pretty sure I didn’t invite you in. We’re done, Sephiroth. We’re nothing to each other.’ He turned, slammed the door shut.

Then he tripped, tumbled again once more. Behind him, the door opened and suddenly Sephiroth was behind him, picking him up and carrying him to the bed.

Cloud was so pissed off that he twisted around in the man’s grip, turned around to punch him. But he really had no more energy. ‘Get out,’ he said.

‘I will,’ Sephiroth said. ‘As soon as I see to you.’

‘Goddamnit, Sephiroth! What do I have to do to get you off my back?’ Cloud said, almost pleadingly. He didn’t want to be in the man’s presence a moment longer. It was literal torture, the way his entire body responded towards this alpha, his magnetic presence pulling Cloud towards him despite the two months of abstinence and a steely resolution. All the dizziness forgotten and faded away, he was now desperately aware of the man who held him.

He was so afraid that if the man stayed a moment more, Cloud would surrender, sink into that warm embrace, and beg Sephiroth to take him back.

‘You already have,’ Sephiroth said simply, pointedly. Coldly. ‘Accept a couple of million Gil in exchange for dumping me.’

Silence crashed down into the room, bringing with it a tension that had never been there before. Like a string so tautly drawn it was an infinitesimal moment away from it snapping, the tension was almost painful.

Cloud could feel his blood drain away. An eternity passed before the words left his lips.

‘Then why are you still here?’ he whispered.

He didn’t know who moved first, but all he knew was that they were far too close to each other. Their lips crashed against each other, and all Cloud understood that in that space of time, he could taste Sephiroth, and he had missed this immensely, with every fibre of his being. 

Sephiroth broke the kiss to whisper, ‘Fuck, you smell different,’ but Cloud overrode that, put his hands on the man’s shoulders. In response, Sephiroth gripped his hips hard, hoisted him up in his arms and carried him to the bed.

They shucked their clothes with the speed of light. Cloud felt safe with the darkness enveloping his nakedness, and shivered at the hardness, the perfection of the other’s man body. He had missed this. Too much, perhaps.

He also knew how dangerous it was, how they shouldn’t be doing this. But right now he just could not bring himself to care.

Cloud went down on his knees, accepted the hungry kisses that Sephiroth lavished upon his skin, from the top of neck to the mid of his back. He gasped and moaned at the sensations that glided in and out of his body, and suddenly there was nothing more than he wanted but to be fucked hard, to be taken until he crumbled into nothing.

‘Fuck me,’ Cloud said. With his legs spread wide, one hand braced against the thin quilt on his bed, he felt open, ready. Slick was spilling hard and fast between his legs. Lust surged through his entire body with a madness that seized him.

That wide, large hand stroked his flank, drifted downwards until his fingers reached Cloud’s entrance.

‘So what is this going to cost me?’

Cloud couldn’t believe his ears. ‘You bastard,’ he hissed out. But his indignant fury was snuffed out by brutal fingers thrust roughly inside of him.

Sephiroth worked him open, efficiently and dispassionately. Like he was doing this out of necessity, rather than desire. But Cloud still loved it, felt those fingers stoking his passion to an unimaginable fever pitch.

His eyes were about to roll out of his head. Cloud panted harshly, gripped Sephiroth’s wrist to stop him. ‘Stop it. Stop it. I’m ready. Get inside of me.’

‘Then beg me,’ Sephiroth snarled.

Cloud’s grip on Sephiroth’s arm slackened with the insult. ‘Fuck you,’ he said, his eyes burning a hole into the man. How could he want this awful, terrible person?

‘Don’t look at me with those eyes,’ Sephiroth said angrily.

‘Fuck you,’ Cloud spat.

‘Beg me for it,’ Sephiroth said, and his three fingers now resumed its frenzied thrusts. Cloud trembled, moaned involuntarily. He hated this man so much, right now.

But some part of him needed him desperately too.

‘Please.’ His plea was harsh, guttural. ‘Please fuck me.’

Sephiroth flipped him so his face slammed into the bed. Cloud heard the clinking of Sephiroth’s belt and the zip of his pants, and suddenly, he was being entered.

Roughly, and without warning.

He cried out in pain. He had forgotten how huge Sephiroth was, and it felt like he was tearing him apart.

‘It’s too tight,’ Cloud sobbed. ‘You’re too big.’

‘Shhh,’ Sephiroth whispered in his ear, and his entire body shuddered into relaxation. Sephiroth’s hips slammed into him from behind, and Cloud bucked, his hips swaying to the rough rhythm that Sephiroth had ruthlessly set up.

Cloud knew there was no way he would last long at all, not with that big cock inside of him slamming against his prostate. The pleasure and pressure was so insistent and hot that it melted his insides, and soon he was orgasming all over himself.

‘I’m coming,’ he cried out.

Sephiroth slammed him even harder, and went so deep that Cloud swore he could feel his hard length in his belly. He could even feel the way Sephiroth’s knot bloomed, spurted hot seed inside of him, trapping them both. It gushed inside of him, even as they both collapsed in a heap atop the bed, their lower limbs sagging and failing them. Sephiroth nuzzled his exposed skin underneath that leather choker he still wore to protect himself from unwanted bites.

Unable to move, unable to be free from each other.

He couldn’t wait for Sephiroth to pull out of him, now that he had been knotted. He was just far too tired, and his entire body tumbled into sleep.

Just before his mind dissolved, he heard Sephiroth whispering, as if startled, and the thought had just occurred to him. 

‘Cloud, are you … with child?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, some of you called it earlier on. @DarknightSilver, @jenniebennie, @Darling_Nikki, for your accurate predictions of an mpreg Cloudy, I hereby award you 100 Munchkin points! 
> 
> Don't spend it all at once now ...


	28. Chapter 28

Sephiroth began his day early.

He was a creature of habit. He rose from bed at five, sharp. Splashed water on his face, brushed his teeth. Then he pulled on his workout gear, went downstairs to hit the gym. He preferred working out to a collection of classical music, because it gave him a chance to consolidate information in his mind, work out the day’s plans.

Sometimes he was joined by Zack or Genesis, who lived on his estate. Some mornings, it was Aerith who joined him. She was a brute on the elliptical, and Sephiroth couldn’t watch her without feeling the need to compete.

His workout took exactly an hour, and by six fifteen he was hitting the shower. He groomed himself and got dressed, sans the jacket. He would then sit in his office for the next two hours, reading any reports that he had missed last night.

At exactly eight forty-five he joined the boys downstairs for breakfast. They’d have eggs and toast, yoghurt and fruit parfait together, but sometimes if the mood struck them the boys would have one of those atrocious packs of sugary cereals. The ones that had colors not found in nature.

At nine, the boys would grab their bags, and clamber into the SUV with Aerith, who was charged with taking them to school, or with the chauffeur. Sephiroth got into his own chauffeured vehicle, and that would take him to Shinra Tower. In the car ride, he would skim through the daily papers.

Once he got into his office, he would listen to his secretary outlining his meetings for the day, followed by a briefing by Genesis and Zack. Then his work day would begin in earnest.

From there he worked tirelessly until he broke for lunch at one, either eaten out or in his office. He knew Genesis greatly enjoyed having lunch at some esoteric restaurant or another with Angeal and often invited Sephiroth. Once out of every five invitations Sephiroth would accept, but very frankly he felt like the third wheel during those lunches. The rest of his dining out was with his secretary, because that meant it could be a working lunch.

After lunch, he would close his eyes while horizontal on the couch in his office with the blinds drawn. He’d power nap for twenty minutes, then he was up and at it again until darkness descended and the lights were twinkling outside his windows. He tried to make it a point to join his children for dinner, putting special emphasis on pizza nights. The only thing the boys loved more than pizza was probably him. 

But for the most part, his nights were spent at this office. When it got too late, he would return to the downtown apartment for a simple dinner, then back for the last couple hours of work at his office before returning home for the night.

When Cloud came along into his life, however, Sephiroth found himself finishing work earlier, returning to the apartment so he could spend some time with Cloud before going home late at night.

It had been a comforting routine the entire time.

And then one day, it simply stopped.

Sephiroth worked hard to get back to his normal. It took surprisingly less time than he had anticipated, perhaps because there was simply so much work awaiting him day and night, whether or not he was romancing Cloud or simply enjoying the act of pounding him into the mattress.

He had meant what he had said to Cloud. He never wanted to see that beautiful, treacherous face again. A traitor who was tempted by money had no place in his life.

He simply had to move on. It didn’t matter if he felt that the omega was different to anyone else that he had ever met, that his heart felt moved.

It didn’t matter if he felt that it was some kind of serendipity, some stroke of fate that they ended up meeting again and falling for each other. Some odd quirk of destiny that made it seem like they were made for each other.

It didn’t matter if he had felt infatuated to the point of even seriously considering the idea of biting him, mating with him, marrying him. 

None of it mattered. It was best to let go of that delusion before it took root inside of him.

He supposed he could count himself lucky that he found out now rather than later.

If he was honest with himself, and he often was, he couldn’t deny that a kernel of anger burned within him. To think that this mere slip of an omega had chosen to rebuff him. To be so easily tempted by something as simple as money. Sephiroth had lost all respect for him the moment he had found out.

But then, on one particular evening back in his downtown apartment, he was sorting through the mail when he came across a nondescript envelope, with familiar handwriting in blue ink. He had seen it a few times before. 

All previous instances could be found in that very apartment. In the little notebook where he’d neatly copy down recipes, and then careless scrawls and notes on the side, adjusting baking times or ingredients. Sometimes it was found on small sticky notes on plastic-wrapped dishes with small, leftover treats for Sephiroth to take home to his sons.

Sephiroth stood in the foyer, opening up the mail brought in by the housekeeper. He had popped his dinner into the microwave, and waited for it to heat up. He examined the envelope carefully. There was no return address, but the postmark indicated it was sent locally, which meant Cloud was most likely somewhere still in Midgar.

He tore it open, pulled out only a thin check. There was no other note. He turned it, and saw a check addressed in his name from the account of Cloud Strife. A million Gil, exactly.

So Cloud was trying to repay him for clearing his debt. Made sense, even though he didn’t have to. After all, he had pocketed a tidy chunk of change from Shinra Corporation. Perhaps he had even repaid it out of guilt. Or it was one way to get Sephiroth off his back, he supposed.

That was fine. Sephiroth was firmly and definitively off his back. And he was happy to stay that way for two months.

So what the hell was that yesterday?

Why had he lunged at Cloud despite his continuous rejections, and his own reluctance to engage with a traitor? Why had he, despite everything restraining them, laid his eyes and hands on Cloud again?

Yes, he could blame Kadaj for his impetuousness in bringing about a reunion they both hadn’t wanted.

Yes, he could also blame that strange unfamiliarity of that scent emanating from Cloud. That sweet vanilla and lavender, now watered down, diluted. Faint, even. But its effect was nearly irresistible, like every ounce of that fragrance was wafting towards him, drawing him closer, seducing him.

Like it was daring Sephiroth to lay claim to him.

It took all of his willpower not to bite down on that nape, so all his lust for completion had been channeled into aggressive, mindless sex. The act of fucking into that warm, tight hole squeezed around his cock was his undoing.

And even as he reached his peak, clearing his mind marginally, the realization dawned upon him. Omegas thickened their scent at the onset of their heat, and diluted it when bonded. But there was no mark upon his neck, and a deep desperation in the under layer of the scent.

Perhaps he was already carrying _something_ in him, and his unbonded body was desperately seeking a mate. For protection, for completion.

Fuck.

The thought of it enraged him. It complicated things.

Was it even _his_ in the first fucking place?

The timelines made sense, but Cloud had never mentioned what had happened in Wutai, and Sephiroth couldn’t trust that he wasn’t fucking someone else on the side while they were still together.

All he could do was draw that blanket of calm over himself and waited until the knot receded. He fixed his clothes, found a washcloth to briefly clean up Cloud. He had passed out in fatigue, and Sephiroth gently moved him onto the bed. He barely even stirred.

With that done, Sephiroth left that little place where Cloud had chosen to settle. It was tiny, no better than a shoebox. Why hadn’t he used any of the millions he had been given to secure himself better accommodation? And why was he even working for minimum wage at a bar?

None of it made any sense.

And when he tried to make sense of it all … it didn’t add up. Nothing did.

Unless he chose to believe that Cloud wasn’t a traitor. And that was not happening anytime soon.

He accepted that he wouldn’t know the exact details, not until Cloud was open to discussion again. He decided to leave the matter alone for now, consider a course of action later.

The more he thought about it, the angrier he felt.

All he wanted to do was to grab the fucking little liar of an omega and pin him to the wall, squeezing his pale little neck until he had wrung the truth out of him.

But he could not, would not.

So he let his mind be taken over by the work of the day, which was just as well, because work was unending. Running the Shinra Corporation and making sure it satisfied his employer and kept his men safe. Lately, the old man seemed rather happy, and when he was happy he stayed off Sephiroth’s back.

At least his professional life was running smoothly, even when his personal one wasn’t.

That evening, shortly after six, he put aside his work and headed for home. The misadventure the night before had taken too much out of him. He had been a terrible parent the night before. He had been holed up in his office after the boys had gone to bed, and hadn’t thought of checking in on them.

He hadn’t even known that Kadaj had snuck out. Couldn’t even bring himself to be angry at the boy, when he himself had failed so miserably as a parent. Without the support he always counted on, he was quite useless.

But nevertheless, he would still try. This evening, he went home early. Earlier than usual, anyway.

In the car, his mobile lit up. He answered it. ‘Vincent.’

‘Where are you?’

‘I’m heading home now,’ Sephiroth said.

‘Oh! That’s a pleasant surprise for your sons, then. Before seven PM? Not bad,’ Vincent mused. ‘Could you kindly pick up some chocolate chips?’

‘Some _what_?’ Sephiroth asked, perplexed.

‘Chocolate chips,’ Vincent said. ‘For chocolate chip cookies that your sons asked for. The delightful Miss Gainsborough is making the dough now, but we’ve just realized we’re missing chocolate chips.’

‘Are you at my house?’ Sephiroth asked, startled. ‘Why?’

‘Why not?’ Vincent mused. ‘I wanted to see in person how my grandsons were going to lose their minds over the new toys I bought them.’

‘And have you?’

‘Yes,’ Vincent said, amused. ‘Their minds were totally lost. Lost and blown. Who knew it would only take electric scooters. I’ll see you soon.’

‘ _Electric scooters_?’ Sephiroth said, but Vincent had already hung up. He shook his head as he pocketed his phone. He really had to have a chat with Vincent about boundaries when it came to gift-giving. Yes, it was his prerogative as grandfather, but honestly, those triplets of his were spoiled and entitled.

And even though Vincent said he was there to see his grandsons, Sephiroth knew why he was really there. Ever since the incident at Wutai, Vincent had visited him more often in order to keep an eye on Sephiroth.

He instructed the chauffeur to take a detour for some chocolate chips. Kunsel was unsure of which brand to buy, so he bought one of each from the supermarket.

The tableau around his living room when he arrived home was a sight to behold. All his favorite people under one roof, although he was never going to let them know that.

Yazoo was gently and slowly weaving in and out the hallways and the living room on his shiny new scooter.

Loz was on the carpet with his godfather, doing a series of tumbling or wrestling moves. Zack was heartily indulging the boy, playing around as the little boy grabbed him in an ineffective chokehold.

Kadaj was at the coffee table that had been shoved against the wall with Angeal, both of them focused intently on putting together a Centurian Hawk from the Planet Battles series. It was intricate, complex block building work that only a patience of a saint could guide his impatient son through. And Angeal was the man to do it.

Vincent was in the kitchen, chatting easily to Aerith, who was keeping an eye on the tabletop mixer as it churned dough. They always had an easy rapport, the two of them, despite having little in common on the surface. But the both of them turned out to be passionate gardeners, able to converse at length about soil conditions and plant rot and natural insecticide.

Genesis, lounging horizontally on the couch, laughing at the phone screen he held so close to his eyes. Ever since the gunshot wound he had acquired, he had been under doctor’s orders to recover as much as possible since he had been discharged from the hospital. He had listened, but then somehow tore his stitches two days later that had seen him back at the hospital for another visit.

Ever since then, he rested when possible. But sometimes, Sephiroth suspected he still used it as an excuse to kick back and relax. In their presence, he played the part of an obedient recovering patient still. Just to keep up appearances.

‘Dad!’ Yazoo spotted him first, and actually abandoned his scooter in order to run up to him, hugged him around the middle. He was being uncharacteristically affectionate, which meant that the triplets knew that they were on notice, and the consequences for their foolhardy plan the last night still suspended, pending judgment.

Sephiroth handed Loz the chocolate chips as he bounded up to him, and finally received the penitent kiss on his cheek from Kadaj.

‘How was work today?’ Vincent said, leaving the kitchen. He handed Sephiroth a small glass of gin and tonic, and they both settled down on the couch opposite Genesis.

Sephiroth shrugged.

‘So … I heard that the boys had some sort of … adventure last night,’ Vincent said.

‘One boy,’ Sephiroth said wryly. ‘But his brothers are not entirely innocent either. So how much did they tell you?’

‘Everything,’ Genesis announced dramatically. As if he had supersonic hearing, Yazoo suddenly lifted his head and stared at them suspiciously. Genesis mouthed, _we’re not talking about it_ to Yazoo, who then reluctantly looked away, and back to helping Aerith pour the chocolate chips into the batter.

‘How was the wh— ahem, the blond?’ Genesis asked.

‘Why?’ Sephiroth asked. ‘What’s it to you?’

‘Well, sorry for being concerned about his welfare too!’ Genesis said indignantly. ‘He was a nice young man, you know.’

‘Before or after he dumped me for two million dollars?’ Sephiroth asked, crossing his ankle over his other knee.

‘Before,’ Genesis said. ‘Definitely before.’

‘It is what it is,’ Sephiroth said, and cut the conversation short. 

He ignored the way Vincent and Genesis eyed him, threw looks at each other. Like he was a time bomb, liable to explode at any moment. But they had his promise. And he kept his promises, no matter how uncomfortable he was when he made it at Genesis’s bedside in the private ward of the hospital.

This was a day after Cloud walked out of his study. Walked out of his life forever.

‘You are not to pursue the President over what happened with Genesis, and in Wutai.’ Vincent had said then, and his voice was so steely and flinty that Sephiroth felt like he was a teenager again. How many times had Vincent hauled him over the coals when he stepped out of line?

‘Why the fuck not?’ he had said.

Vincent looked like he was going to hit him. But he took a deep breath, calmed himself. ‘Because you know why, Sephiroth. He’s taunting you, and he’s watching you. He wants you to act. Revenge should be the last thing on your mind now, and you need to get that legendary brain of yours in the game. Stop falling for his shit!’

‘You don’t understand!’ Sephiroth lashed out. ‘He’s been meddling with my private life, and hurting my—’

‘I don’t care if he got your omega boyfriend to dump you!’ Vincent said furiously. ‘Your relationship is nothing compared to what’s at stake, boy! I didn’t raise you just for you to throw your life away, or to put your sons’ lives in danger. Think, Sephiroth!’

Genesis reached out, gripped Sephiroth’s hand in his. ‘He’s right, you know. Vincent is right. You can’t move against the old man, not now. He would be anticipating it. You’re the cleverest man I know, Sephiroth. You can come up with a better plan.’

‘Play the long game,’ Vincent advised. ‘You need to cement your support first if you don’t want them turning on you when the captain of the ship goes down. Whatever mutiny you’ve got planned, it needs to go right back to the drawing board. We will help you. It can’t be half-assed and you know it. Don’t allow emotion to cloud your mind.’

‘Promise me,’ Genesis said. ‘Promise us. Please.’

‘We’re here to support you,’ Vincent said. ‘But we won’t blindly watch you throw yourself into the fire.’

‘Goddamn it,’ Sephiroth swore. But they knew they had his promise. He loved and respected them, knew he would be nothing without them. He also knew that they had his best interests at heart. Perhaps they were right after all.

He was too distraught. Too enraged. Too disappointed.

So he pretended that nothing happened. He didn’t pursue Genesis’s bullet wound, and he certainly didn’t pursue the Turks. He ended all avenues of investigation, and went back to work like something fundamental in his life hadn’t changed.

He may have promised Vincent and Genesis not to move for now, and he would keep it.

But he had also promised himself that the old man would die. He would keep that too. In fact, he had already begun moving silently. 

For now, at the present, he watched his family enjoy a quiet evening together. 

As for Cloud … the less he thought about him, the better. He tamped down on the anger that burned within him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter note is unnecessarily long and rambly, and contains nothing of importance so feel free to skip it, and I will see you next week. Thanks for reading! 
> 
> But if you're still reading and waiting to watch the equivalent of a car crash, here goes: 
> 
> Although right now Fidelis only has 28 chapters and you're roughly more than halfway through the story, I've been writing ahead. I wanted to let you know that I just waded knee-deep into the finale and it's been difficult to write. Sad, too, as I get ready to say goodbye. I won't lie to you - it's been a bit of a solo journey with this process, and many times I wonder how many of my readers will stay with me until the very end. 
> 
> This story is both a little bit unhinged and dramatic, unnecessarily angsty and heart-tugging (at least, I hope to do that). Thank you for staying with me so far. 
> 
> I guess the point of this rambling note is that I am very thankful for your readership, and I don't say so often enough. For those who found me halfway and binged your way through the fic, thank you! If you've often dropped me a comment or a kudos I'm always super glad to read them and appreciate the support! Even for those who enjoy lurking quietly, thanks for the hits too! Give me a wave sometime if you can! 
> 
> But for those who followed me from Amor Fati and are still here and want to see this through to the end ... I don't know how else to convey my gratitude. I would give you a hug in real life if I could. 
> 
> And no, I'm not drunk!!! You're drunk!!!


	29. Chapter 29

‘Son of a fucking bitch,’ Cloud swore under his breath.

He stared at the contraption in his hand. How could such an innocent looking, useless bit of plastic destroy his entire world as he knew it? How could something so small hold such incredible destructive power?

After his shift finally ended that Sunday evening, he had ducked off early and headed down the 24-hour pharmacy just down the road. Thankfully it was empty except for the bored, sleepy cashier at the counter, and he grabbed a basket and headed down the last aisle in the corner.

He stood in front of the shelves, and looked down. They came in one pack, three packs and ten packs. He grabbed the one pack, before realizing that maybe he would need a little more than that. So he grabbed the three pack and dumped it into the basket. He grabbed a bottle of spring water too. 

He didn’t care what the cashier thought, but he pretty much ran out of there and tucked the box into his back pocket. Brisk-walked all the way home all the while chugging the bottle. By the time he was there, he was ready to hit the bathroom.

Cloud didn’t know much, but knew enough to pee on the damned stick. He also knew what he wanted to see, but wasn’t surprised to see the faint + - signs in the windows. Not at all.

He had had a feeling, after all.

The fatigue that had gotten worse instead of better when he should have been solidly adapting to work, the way he slept nonstop during his downtime. He had no other symptoms, but knew his body enough to know that something had changed.

When had it been? Cloud cast his mind, tried to recall when exactly had been the moment of his mistake.

That last fuck that they had shared before he left?

No, more likely in the days following his aborted heat. He must still have been oddly fertile, and he had allowed Sephiroth to hold him in the night. When Sephiroth had knotted him, and they had fallen back asleep together. That was more likely.

Goddamn it. He had no one to blame but himself.

Well, him and Sephiroth, but this was not _his_ problem. He couldn’t be part of the equation after all.

He threw the pregnancy test so angrily into the wastebasket that it bounced back out and landed on the floor in front of him. As if to taunt him. Why this? Why now?

Even as he stewed in his own frustration and fear, it still wasn’t enough to overcome the overwhelming, unnatural fatigue that assaulted his body. He fell asleep, clutching the blanket tightly in his hands until daybreak.

He dressed mechanically after his shower. Slurped down coffee to wake himself up, and ate a bland meal of bread and butter. He took the bus, then a train to get to Sector 3. He arrived back at the wrought iron gates after a long but slow walk. He was so tired that he regretted the decision not to take a cab.

There was a part of him that was hesitant to walk in. Sephiroth’s orders still echoed in his mind. Perhaps that was why he felt so discomfited when he actually stepped into the palatial home, into the familiarity of the place he had enjoyed for such a short time.

But Aerith and the triplets had invited him, and at his hesitation Aerith had discreetly informed him that Sephiroth was well aware of this arrangement and had permitted it, largely because he did not want the triplets to pull their escapade again. They wanted to see Cloud that desperately, apparently.

Which was strange, because he was pretty sure they hated him. Perhaps it was a case of not knowing what they liked until it was lost.

He allowed himself to be hugged and embraced by Aerith and the triplets. Let them fawn over him as they ushered him into the living room, pressed a cold drink into his hand. Listened to the wild chatter of six year olds, all talking over each other. Waited until Aerith dispersed them by asking them to go get a letter that they had all supposedly written together. A look at their guilty faces made Cloud want to laugh, but as they scooted away to write the letter it brought them some precious moments of peace.

Aerith didn’t waste any time getting down to the heart of the matter.

‘Forgive my nosiness, Cloud. Are you …’ She left it hanging in the air.

Cloud stiffened up. ‘Am I what?’ How did she know anyway?

She pointed to her belly.

‘How do you know?’ Cloud hissed.

‘Woman’s intuition,’ she whispered back. Then almost as an afterthought, she said, ‘Yesterday morning my employer asked me about the symptoms of omega pregnancies.’

‘Why’d he ask you?’

‘Because he thinks I know everything to do with kids,’ Aerith answered.

‘Shit. Don’t tell anyone.’

‘I wouldn’t think of it,’ she said.

‘Especially not your employer.’ Although Cloud thought, what was the point of that? He was quite sure that Aerith’s employer had a good idea of it already.

‘ _Especially_ not my employer,’ Aerith agree. ‘I’m not crazy, Cloud. How far along?’

‘No idea,’ Cloud said. ‘Do I … look it?’

‘You look so exhausted,’ Aerith said. ‘And something’s changed about you. Your… aura?’

‘That’s ridiculous, Aerith,’ Cloud said.

‘Exactly,’ Aerith answered. ‘But I’m not wrong, am I?’

‘Yes, damn it.’

‘Go see Angeal.’

‘What?’ Cloud asked, baffled.

‘Angeal. He’s a doctor, remember? And he’s super discreet. He can help you.’

‘Isn’t he an emergency room physician?’

‘He’s a doctor, isn’t he?’ Aerith said. ‘He’ll point you in the right direction. Would you like me to ask him for an appointment?’

Cloud considered it. Angeal was Sephiroth’s friend, but he would be bound by some kind of patient-doctor confidentiality, wouldn’t he? And also, he did need the opinion of a medical professional. Maybe it was best to ask for help. And Angeal had been kind, and a friend to him. He had been the one to give Cloud a complete medical checkup shortly after his debt had been paid off. ‘All right,’ he said.

Aerith whipped out her phone, tapped at the keypad rapidly with her thumbs. After ten seconds, she looked up. ‘All right. He can see you any time after two today. He has a light schedule, so just head off to the Midgar General Hospital’s ER and ask for him at the front desk.’ At his expression, Aerith put her hand on his his. ‘He is the kindest man I’ve ever met. And that’s not including the big giant lump of squishy niceness that’s my lovely boyfriend. It’s OK. He’ll understand.’

The boys returned with a badly written letter, so illegible that Cloud could barely make out the words, but he pocketed it with a smile anyway. The boys weren’t so bad. Tough and aggressive on the outside, soft in the inside. They seemed to have warmed up to him a bit more, now that they knew he wasn’t trying to intrude on their lives. It was amusing, really.

So he spent a strangely relaxing four hours at the house, watching and playing with the triplets, eating the food that Aerith made for them. Lunch was some sort of spice-covered baked chicken and wild rice with a salad on the side.

Loz was very sweet and physical affectionate, while Yazoo was quietly introspective and was happy to sit by Cloud’s side. Kadaj was clearly the ring leader, devising games and issuing instructions at rapid fire. Cloud sat with Aerith with a tall cold drink, watching the triplets at their tennis training. Clearly, they felt like they had to impress Cloud, so they were on their best behavior.

When it came time for him to leave, they had clearly been briefed to the expected behavior. They lined up, fidgeted very little, and shook his hand. Asked him in very polite tones to come back for a visit. Cloud gave them each a hug before he left.

‘Regardless of what’s happened between your father and me, I will still be your friend,’ Cloud promised. These little boys were innocent and naïve, and didn’t deserve to be dragged into the severance of their relationship. Whatever they felt about him, whatever their opinion of him … he was always thankful for a friendly face.

Aerith insisted on calling the chauffeur for him. ‘It’s not like we’re going anywhere anyway.’ So he accepted it, because it was at least nice to skip out on all the bus and train journeys to get to the hospital. He was doubly thankful for the kindness when he dozed off in the short car ride.

He stood at the admissions desk, hesitantly tried to get the nurse’s attention. The emergency room was packed to the gills, and he didn’t want to intrude especially if Angeal’s attention was required for the patients who were practically sitting on each other’s laps in the waiting lounge.

‘Um … I was told that Dr. Angeal Hewley is expecting me?’ he asked.

‘Name,’ the nurse said, without looking up at him. 

‘Cloud Strife,’ he said.

She clicked on her mouse, looked at the computer screen. ‘Take the elevator to the second floor and follow the path straight down to the Director’s office.’

‘Thanks,’ Cloud said. The short walk was uneventful, and soon he found himself in front of Angeal’s door, quietly knocking at the heavy wood.

The door opened, and Cloud instinctively took a step back. Angeal had opened it himself, and Cloud wasn’t expecting that. Nor the kind, neutral smile he had on his face. ‘Cloud, it’s so good to see you. Come in, have a seat.’

Cloud sat down.

‘Lovely weather we’re having today, aren’t we?’ Angeal said conversationally. ‘Have you had anything to eat, Cloud? If not, I have this lovely apple tart we can both share. I got it down at a bakery not far from here.’

‘No, I’m good.’

‘Let’s get down to business then, Cloud. You look a little nervous. I can assure you, whatever that is spoken of in here will only be between you and me. I am your doctor, and I am here to help you.’

Cloud took a deep breath. ‘I think I’m pr—carrying a—pregnant. I’m pregnant.’ Why the hell was it so difficult to say?

‘OK,’ Angeal said, his expression never changing at all. ‘Let’s unpack that. How did you find out?’

Cloud told him about the pregnancy test, and Angeal started pulling out a small booklet from his drawer. ‘All right, before we do anything else, let’s draw your blood. A blood test will confirm a pregnancy.’ He scribbled a few words on the forms, then came over with a stainless steel kidney-shaped dish with a syringe, and vials. ‘That’s OK, you can sit there. Get comfy. I’ll come over to you.’

Angeal came over and perched his hip against the edge of the desk even as he gently and slowly instructed Cloud to bare the inside of his elbow. ‘Any symptoms so far?’

‘Tired,’ Cloud said. ‘Very tired. I seem to lack energy to do anything, and by the end of my work I’m just about ready to crawl into bed.’

‘Any nausea? Vomiting? Anything unusual?’

‘No,’ Cloud said.

‘Are you on any sort of contraceptives?’

‘I was on heat suppressants until—’ Cloud began, then had to swallow that instinctive sob that rose in his throat. ‘I was, and then one day I wasn’t.’

‘Would you … like to tell me what happened?’ Angeal asked. The words came spilling out of Cloud as he spoke about the circumstances that led up to his heat beginning. He spoke of the changes that his body was put through, and how he thought he wasn’t fertile when he had been fucked that one night, days after his heat had abated.

‘This … is unfortunately a common misunderstanding,’ Angeal said. ‘When your heat starts, an egg is released. Just because the urge to mate is gone doesn’t mean that the egg doesn’t hover around for a while. And while the chances of fertilization are extremely low, it isn’t impossible. It’s an easy mistake to make, and no one’s fault. What is your opinion on this unexpected pregnancy of yours, Cloud?’

‘I … I don’t know,’ Cloud stuttered.

‘Is the father in the picture?’ Angeal asked. Cloud flushed, looked away. That prompted Angeal to proceed even more carefully. ‘Are you aware of the identity of the fetus’s father, Cloud?’ Angeal asked so kindly and non-judgmentally that Cloud felt a sudden rush of self-pity and tears which he forced back. He knew who it was, clearly, but he was too polite to assume. 

‘Yes, I am aware,’ Cloud said.

‘Right,’ Angeal said. ‘Have you spoken to him about it?’

‘No,’ Cloud said. And then in a rush, ‘But please don’t tell him. Not yet.’ In his haze of panic, he had accidentally revealed who the father was. But Angeal’s expression never shifted, never judged. 

‘Cloud,’ Angeal said, then skillfully withdrew blood into the vial. Cloud hadn’t even felt the pinch. ‘Doctor-patient confidentiality. Sephiroth might be my friend, but I am also your doctor.’ He put a cotton ball over the injection point, and some medical tape over it. Then he carefully put the vials he collected in with the pathology request, and poked his head out of his office door. ‘Would you get this to the labs, and put an urgent on it, please?’

He came back to his desk, and instead of choosing to sit in his seat, he sat down in the visitor’s chair next to Cloud. In quiet tones he slowly worked out the dates of Cloud’s heat, the likely date of conception, and the date of delivery. ‘We can safely say that you should be about ten weeks pregnant.’

Ten weeks? _Ten_ weeks!?!?! Cloud felt himself freaking out, especially if a regular pregnancy was a grand total of forty weeks. How could he be a quarter through the pregnancy already? He felt himself breaking out in cold sweat.

‘How are you feeling?’

‘Not … great,’ Cloud admitted. ‘Terrified. Scared.’

‘These are all very normal emotions. Anxiety as you adjust to a different reality.’

‘What are my options?’ Cloud said.

‘Right now? You have many available to you. Continuation with the pregnancy with careful managed prenatal care as this is what we usually call a high risk pregnancy. Your other option is termination,’ Angeal said neutrally. ‘Whatever your choice, you don’t have to decide now, Cloud. You still have a little bit of time.’

‘What do you mean by a high risk pregnancy?’

‘Right. Are you aware that the chances of a successful omega pregnancy is … mixed? There’s usually a 45 to 50% chance to your pregnancy becoming successful. And since you are a prime-type omega, and Sephiroth is a dominant alpha, it increases your likelihood of carrying to term, but not by much. That’s simply adding another 10%.’

‘55% chance,’ Cloud said.

‘That’s right,’ Angeal answered. ‘55% to 60%. These are good odds, but I wouldn’t count on them. Time has seen fit to evolve omegas to be less and less successful carriers of children since we have been able to reverse the birthing crisis in beta women.’

‘I know,’ Cloud said. Alphas and omegas were increasingly dying out. But it was just as well. It seemed unfair to have genders with such disparity in ability, intelligence and social status. The world was changing, and the human race simply had to keep up. 

‘At any rate,’ Angeal said. ‘Help is available to you, no matter which route you choose. Now, once the bloodwork comes back through I would like to meet you one more time before I refer you on to my colleagues in the obstetrics department. We can talk about nutrition, supplements, prenatal care, birthing options… if you choose to continue. If not, we can talk about the process that takes place next.’

‘OK,’ Cloud said.

‘In the meantime, I want you to rest. Continue as you see fit, but be aware that your body is changing and the pregnancy does take a toll on your energy levels,’ Angeal got up and grabbed a glossy brochure for Cloud. ‘You’ll find some basic information there, so read up on it. Your bloodwork will be back by tonight. Are you available for another appointment with me either tomorrow or the day after?’

‘Tomorrow,’ Cloud said. ‘I don’t have work. I’m free.’

‘That’s good then, I’ll pencil you in and text you the time.’ Angeal sat back down, reached out and patted Cloud around the shoulders. ‘I am also your friend, Cloud. I know this is a little frightening and unexpected, but you’ll get through, I promise you. If you need anything at all, I am here. For now, just rest and relax as best as you can.’

‘I’ll try,’ Cloud said. He got up and let Angeal show him to the door, where he walked out just as tall redhead with flaming hair and an equally crimson, custom fit suit walked up, surprise on his face. He had a pair of sunglasses perched on his head. He was gorgeous, as he was dangerous.

‘Genesis,’ Cloud said.

‘Cloud,’ Genesis said. Then narrowed his eyes as he looked to Angeal, to Cloud, and back to Angeal again. ‘Why the hell are you here?’

‘Enjoy the rest of your day,’ Angeal said cheerfully, patting Cloud on the shoulder, as if telling him not to worry too much about Genesis’s scrutinizing glare that was openly hostile.

‘See you,’ Cloud mumbled. He was more than happy to make his escape, and didn’t even look back as he sped out of the hospital.

Genesis slowly turned to Angeal suspiciously. ‘What’s that all about? Why was he looking for you?’

Angeal refused to answer. ‘You know I can’t tell you, Genesis. It’s none of your business anyway.’

But Genesis stood there watching him carefully. ‘Is he trying to worm his way back into Sephiroth’s good graces?’

‘What?’ Angeal frowned. ‘No, of course not.’

‘Then why is he—wait. He’s not fucking pregnant, is he?’ Genesis scowled, and when Angeal refused to answer, he pulled out his mobile phone and started dialing it.

Angeal closed his hand over Genesis, stopping him from completing the call. ‘Gen,’ he chided. ‘This is between the both of them.’

Genesis snapped. ‘I’m not like the rest of you clueless idiots. I know exactly why he left in the first place. Don’t be taken in by that pretty little face of his, Angeal.’

‘It’s still none of our business,’ Angeal said. ‘Leave it, Genesis. You are not to breach someone else’s confidentiality, do you hear me?’

‘Sephiroth is _our_ friend.’

‘I know,’ Angeal said. ‘And as much as it’s hard to believe, Gen, he is also an adult. An adult in his mid-thirties. Please. Let him sort this out himself.’

Genesis considered this for a short while, then reluctantly pocketed his phone. ‘Fine.’ 

Angeal patted him approvingly on his hand before letting go. ‘Why are you looking for me?’

Genesis shoved past Angeal, flounced into his office. ‘Mouthwash.’

‘What?’ Angeal asked, puzzled, but followed Genesis in, where he was now rooting through Angeal’s washroom cabinet. He found a small bottle of mouthwash, threw a capful into his mouth. ‘Why do you need mouthwash?’

Genesis held out a finger, asking Angeal to wait.

Angeal patiently sat back down behind his desk, waited for Genesis to swish the liquid in his mouth before spitting it out in the sink.

‘Sorry, darling,’ Genesis said. ‘Had to get that taste out of my mouth.’

‘Why is that?’

‘Director Cooper. I told him not to come in my mouth but guess what he did,’ Genesis said, whipping out his phone again, quite oblivious to the way Angeal had stopped his typing quite abruptly.

‘What did you do again, Genesis?’ he asked quietly. ‘You were supposed to just see him for the follow-up check with your wound.’

Genesis shrugged. ‘Yes, but he was looking very handsome today. And I happen to like that cock of his, thank you very much. It was just a simple thank you for the care he’s shown me when I was warded.’

Angeal averted his gaze, and looked blankly at his computer. Began typing up the notes in the new patient file for Cloud. He told himself not to think about it too hard. Genesis had done this again and again. This was not the first time by a long shot, and it was certainly not going to be the last time either. 

He made a typo, and slammed on the backspace key. Why was he getting angry anyway? This was Genesis. He would bare his ass for anyone who asked, and he would blow anyone who even looked his way. It didn’t matter who it was, or where he was. Genesis was up for anything. He was lustful and he liked sleeping around. Anyone would do.

Except Angeal, of course.

Everyone in the goddamned world except for him.

Angeal worked to unclench his jaw. ‘How about me?’

‘How about you what?’ Genesis asked distractedly, looking up from his phone.

‘I operated on you. I took the bullet out of you,’ Angeal said. ‘Where is my thanks?’

Genesis cocked his head. ‘My friendship is your thanks,’ he joked cheerfully.

‘I’m serious, Genesis. You know how I feel about you,’ Angeal said, and the moment those words left his lips and entered the room he knew he had made a mistake. Genesis instantly seized up, and a mask fell over his face.

‘I have to go,’ Genesis said. ‘I’ll take you out for lunch tomorrow.’ He tucked the phone into pocket and turned to head for the door. Angeal found himself getting up before he really thought about it, crossing the room in giant strides and slamming his hand right against the door, shutting it before it was fully opened. Trapping Genesis, who turned to him, the flame in his eyes. They looked eye to eye, and Genesis never even flinched.

This intense fearlessness was never to be his, Angeal thought. He pushed his lips against Genesis’s, and for a moment there the heat between them burst into flames. Then Genesis pushed him away, punched him in the gut.

‘Don’t you dare do that again,’ Genesis snarled.

‘You’re a coward, Genesis,’ Angeal said, his eyes watering from the pain. ‘You’re running away from your own feelings.’

‘Fuck you, Angeal,’ Genesis barked. ‘How dare you presume my feelings? You don’t know me half as well as you think you do.’

‘I do,’ Angeal said. ‘I do, and you know it. You’re scared of it. You’re a fucking coward, Genesis Rhapsodos.’

Genesis made an angry noise, but didn’t pursue it further. He turned on his heel, yanked open the door, and stalked out of there.

Angeal closed his eyes, and wondered what he had done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have a dilemma, which I'm pretty sure you can help me solve. 
> 
> Vote 1 to have the Angeal/Genesis side story within the main fic. 
> 
> Vote 2 to have the side story on a separate spinoff. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading, and I'll see you next week with ~~more drama~~ another chapter.


End file.
